"Good Times" or The Worst of Times?

There are many things in our modern society that would shock the late Charles Dickens, and I would argue that the use, or more accurately, the over-use, of the term "good times" would be the most shocking.

"Good times" is yet another item that has come onto the current scene due to an SNL skit.

However, due to over-saturation in our current spoken vocabulary, "Good times" has passed its prime. In fact, it has been past its prime for at least a year now, maybe more. ("Good times" [or GT] is not to be confused with "a good time" which is still a socially acceptable term.)

"Good times" is used as a filler term, which finds much use mostly among 20-somethings, most likely in social situations, who have a burning desire to say something, say anything, but HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF SUBSTANCE TO SAY. It's this insecurity that has fueled GT to platinum status. And it's an easy laugh, because hey, who doesn't like SNL? (the degradation of SNL is another topic entirely...)

Well, I have a message for these people: you would be better off saying nothing, than saying "good times". Please, for the love of all that is holy, STOP SAYING "GOOD TIMES". Every time I hear GT, I cringe. No, I used to cringe. Now, I either openly mock or I decide right on the spot that I want nothing to do with that person.

Brief story of relevance. A close friend of mine has a nasty little habit of ending each of his emails with "Good times." I'm not sure why he would put that same old not-so-funny-anymore phrase at the end of each email, but to each his own. Well, prior to about a year ago, it didn't really bother me. But you can only take so many "good times". (In fact, I think that we are each built with a "good times" counter - once the counter reaches oh, ten thousand times hearing "good times", we then go into either fight or flight mode. It's a scientific fact.).

So, a few months ago, I finally e-called him out (decided this one was worth the fight). In response to his not-so-catchy closing phrase, I responded "Great taste." That was all I wrote, then sent. If you remember, there was an old McDonald's commercial that ended with "Good times, great taste." I just needed a way to bring attention to the fact that he had been over-using GT for years and no one found it even close to amusing anymore. Long story short, he slowed in his usage of GT for a few months, but now is back to it with almost the same frequency as before.

Conclusion: Once a good timer, always a good timer.
Lesson learned: Can't teach an old good timer new closing phrases.

As I've been on my anti-"Good times" kick for what seems like forever now, people around me are starting to feel the same about GT. In fact, my brother and I were at a social gathering 2 months ago. We were talking with a couple of new girls, trying to get a taste of what they were like. As often happens in these scenes, during the changing of the topic, there can be a brief pause where no one says anything. During each one of these pauses, the cuter of the two girls blurted out "Good times." (Yes, blurted. It sounded like she had diarrhea of the mouth.) She even did a double take on at least three, that I recall. (That's when the first GT is followed quickly by a second, slower GT. Usually the second GT is in a little bit deeper voice than the first.) The double take GT almost makes it sound like the person saying it has thought about the conversation, and they are absolutely convinced that it has, indeed, been "good times." Personally once I heard the girl say GT the second time I ruled her out. There was no way I could handle being with her for more than 5 minutes at a time. In the first 2 minutes of conversation, she had said GT at least 5 times. So upon realizing that she was a die-hard good timer, I basically ignored both her and her friend at the party that night, wanting nothing to do with either of them. Call me shallow if you will, but I felt I owed it to them and myself. It was only fair to both of us to end what would have been a rocky relationship right then and there.

My brother's GT radar, however, was not yet as sensitive as mine at that point in time. So they actually went on a couple of dates, both times at her invitation. Each time, before he left, he indicated to me, "I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle the 'good times' tonight. Why does she just not say 'good times'?" Well, after 2 dates, he just couldn't handle it any more. "Good times" ruined what could have been a great relationship.

But the question remains, Why does she just not say 'good times'? Why does anyone continue to use "good times"? GT could become one of the biggest relationship-wreckers in our society. I saw a new stat the other day that indicated that there are now more single adults in America than married adults. Would it be too far of a stretch to connect this stat to the rampant, unprotected use of "good times"?

I think not!