The Irish have a phrase that I think we are born with it ingrained in our vocabulary, “I’m grand”. It is very versatile and can be use in nearly all scenarios. Don’t want to talk about something “Ah sure it’s grand”, a replacement greeting for hello “How are you? I’m grand, you? Ah I’m grand too”, want to end the conversation “Ah sure look that’s grand”, it really has endless possibilities. I wonder how many times we say it our lifetime.

The problem with grand is it often holds no weight, so everyone can easily say it without much meaning attached to it. To find out if the grand is accurate you need the follow up question, “Yea but are you really grand?”. This can just lead to cementing the grand further or allowing an opportunity for someone to say “no I’m not grand”.

Sometimes we are relieved when someone responds with grand, it’s almost a get out of jail free card. It might not be we don’t want to know, more we are not able to in that moment handle “I’m not grand”. It doesn’t mean you don’t care or are a bad person, you are just a human and we all have our limits. I find anytime the conversation does stretch to this further meaningful encounter, both people benefit. The individual has found someone to confide in and relieve their burden. While at the same time, the person listening can feel closer to them and feel a sense of purpose and pride that they were able to be there for them.

So maybe next time someone says they are grand ask them “but are you really grand?”…