Reminds me of when I was in school, kids would often ask teachers "Can I go to the bathroom?" and the answer was almost always "Yes". This one teacher, though, always had some other creative response instead of just "Yes". He would say something like:
- Affirmative
- Of course
- Good luck
- Godspeed
- Don't get lost
They would be increasingly creative ways of simply confirming "Yes, you may use the bathroom". And if you would ask why the teacher said something weird instead of just saying "Yes", he would say that gets boring. Instead of repeating the same simple phrase day after day, he came up with a way to actually get a little enjoyment out of the interaction by peppering in a little creative variation.
I find that similar to the creative dismissal of sports topics. After countless times when people try discussing sports with me, it gets boring to simply say the same pnrase "I'm not interested in sports" over and over. So, to get a little enjoyment out of life, I try to come up with some little variations to shake up the interaction.
