Boy, You Look Great!

I was at a social gathering of late at which I ran into a number of people I hadn't seen in years.  It was truly good to see them and also good to see how many of them were holding up well despite the onslaught of years.

"Hi, John," I bubbled,  "super to see ya!  Boy, you look great!"

"Oh, hi, Perry," returned John.  "Did you happen to see if they have any dip at the crudites table?"

What?

Isn't it just polite to say back to me "You look great too, Perry" even if it's about as true as a pledge to walk the straight and narrow from Lindsay Lohan?

Next I bumped into Philip.

"Phillip, how are you?  Boy, you look great!"

"Oh, hi, Perry.   Do you happen to know where the head is?" 

Now this was getting ridiculous!  Whatever happened to common courtesy?  Even if I look like the onslaught of years is treating me like the onslaught of Crusaders upon a Saracen castle, hey, say something nice, dude!

Okay, here comes Debbie.  Time to put this to the test.

"Perry," she gushed, "how the hell are you?"   

This was promising.

"Debbie," I  said warmly, "boy, you look great!" 

"Thank you, Perry," responded Debbie.  "And you ... umm.... er.... are a sight for sore eyes too."

Okay, that'll do.  I'll take that any day. 

And, oh, by the way,  folks --- boy, you look great!

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