We have a wooden plaque in our kitchen that says, \u201cIT IS WHAT IT IS!\u201d My wife uttered her favorite statement so often I bought her the plaque for Christmas last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It sounds like something a cheapskate like me would give as a present, but it did pass the Wife-Gift-Giving -Rules. It didn\u2019t have a handle (pots, pans and the like), it didn\u2019t plug into an electrical outlet (Vacuum cleaner, crock pot, etc.) and it couldn\u2019t be worn (ugly sweater, wrong size coat, etc.). It did violate one of her rules; it didn\u2019t sparkle or come in a jewelry box, but what can she expect when she\u2019s married to an old coot? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m cheap but not stupid; I paired it with a massage gift certificate, some dinning out coupons and the like. I got away with it, but I heard her mumble under her breath, \u201cIt is what it is!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whatever! It is what it is, is a phrase that went viral a few years ago. It always fascinates me, the phenomena of a new adage spreading across the country, becoming the go-to saying, going to the front of the line of a long row of predecessors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It did just that, knocked out: That\u2019s Life \u2013 Whatcha gunna do? \u2013 That\u2019s the way it is! And there are many similar statements that we use, or did use, to help move beyond an unpleasant event, outcome, or quirk of fate. Some of the adages we say to ourselves \u2013 others, we state to the \u201cvictim,\u201d to console them, or, sometimes to rub it in, or, to just get them to shut up and stop bellyaching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My mother, 70 some years ago, had her pet saying; she used it on my sister and I all the time, \u201cYou made your bed, now lie in it!\u201d In other words, \u201cYou caused your own problem, now shut up and go do your homework or something!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back in the dark ages, the 50\u2019s and 60\u2019s, the one you heard a lot among the \u201ccool\u201d crowd, was, \u201cThat\u2019s the way the cookie crumbles.\u201d You also heard some unsympathetic alternatives like, \u201cIt could have been worse.\u201d The rest of the thought, that was often implied but rarely spoken was, \u201cYea, it could have been worse; it could have been me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How about, \u201cLife sucks and then you die,\u201d as a comforting comment. Not much comfort there. So, what\u2019s my point? Simply, that we humans employ a litany of things to say or think when life tosses us a curve ball. Moving on is what we do. \u201cMaking lemonade out of lemons,\u201d I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n