My husband is a little bit famous for his sentiments when I am leaving for work. His sayings include keep your stick on the ice, keep the shiny side up and his oft used, keep your powder dry. All these refer to something colloquial that I don’t fully understand, but in essence he is always urging me to do my best and stay safe. And now as my kids leave each day for work, he gets to ramp up his game and pass on these gems to them. So, a few days ago he told my daughter to “keep the wind at her back”. I am sure my daughter did not offer any response in the moment as she trudged off, but in the evening, she was sharing this story. It had been a windy day and with her stepdad’s words in her head, each time she found herself in the wind, she turned to put her back to it. She was excited to report that this had made a huge difference in her day. I love this, as I know my husband was not trying to be instructional, but he did offer great advice in his words. It reminds me of two things. First the way we often say these kinds of things, asking people to take care, to be safe, to be watchful, these are all different ways of saying that we care. Different ways to show that just for a moment we are offering words of farewell that literally ask another human to aim to be well. Secondly, it makes me think about all the little sayings we have that we fully understand, but that we can easily use with people that are from a different generation, a different culture or a different communication style and make no sense at all. In this case, my daughter took it as literal instruction and she had a more pleasant day. In other cases, it reminds us to be cautious about using references that do not convey what we are trying to say. I basically understand that my husband knows that I do not in fact fire canons or muskets in my work and therefore do not require any reminder to keep the gun powder dry so that it will have optimal effect. He is simply using this old saying to tell me to take care of myself and be cautious in my day, I think. Let’s keep telling each other to be well and safe, in a way that we know everyone can understand.
