This morning, while patronizing my local McDonald’s and waiting for my order, I was approached by a woman who apparently had an interest in idle chit-chat. As it happens, we are both black. I wasn’t really interested in being social at the moment, but I figured the encounter would be brief, so I did my best to be polite. She asked me how I was doing, and I mumbled something to the effect that at least it isn’t Monday anymore.
At that point, her tone became conspiratorial. She lowered her voice and said to me, “Have you ever heard the phrase white people use, ‘I hate Mondays’?” Of course, I had been under the impression that everyone used that phrase, but I nodded because I didn’t want to be left out of the conspiracy. She continued, “Well, my girlfriend sent me this in an email the other day. Did you know that when white people use that phrase, they’re actually saying they hate US?” I registered what I believed to be the appropriate amount of shock and indignation*, and I think it worked, because there followed a wink and a nod of understanding between us. We wished each other a good day and went our separate ways, with me now having been properly educated. Like a game of tag that our race’s very survival depended on, I had been charged with the unspoken-but-clear duty to pass it on.
Now, I had been prepared to laugh it all off as an encounter with a crazy person, but since getting to my desk, I have learned that I have lived under a rock all of my life, as the use of this code phrase is apparently well known on the internet. I even ran across a story of a cop being fired for using that phrase about a famous athlete. So now I’d like to figure out who else, if anyone, has been living under a rock with me. Dopers, tell me about your familiarity (or lack thereof) with this apparently not-so-secret phrase.
Poll to follow, but primarily for my own amusement, so please feel free to start discussing immediately.
*At some point, I’m going to work up the nerve to confront my wife about her use of this phrase, now that I understand she has been covertly harboring ill will toward me all these years.