My dad told me a story from his youth about hitting a skunk at night while driving his father’s car. When he got home and climbed out of the car, the skunk smell was strong. He smelled of skunk. He knew his mother would ask questions.
This is not good, he thought.
I’ve had that same thought; said the same thing when something went wrong: This is not good.
Like my dad, I don’t say, this is bad.
Why is that?
This is bad is shorter. To the point. Clear. Definitive. The opposite of not good is bad. Right?
But this is bad somehow sounds worse. There’s good and there’s bad and this is bad is clearly bad.
This is not good subtly leaves open possibilities other than bad. Maybe this thing that is not good is actually…maybe…great? Not good slows down thinking; interrupts a clear and definitive conclusion of bad.
It gives some wiggle room; buys some time with the inner Judge.
Maybe that sounds like fuzzy logic, but it works for rice cookers, so I’ll take it.
And…I never learned how the skunk story ended.
But my dad survived.
Photo source: OpenClipart-Vectors on Pixabay
Walk the Goats 
Totally random analysis, but I think it situations where you might laugh if it happened to someone else, or situations that are once-in-a-life absurd, “This is not good” is almost a coping mechanism/comedic response, like your mind is trying to keep things light. Kind of like when you see something over-the-top, almost-too-ridiculous-too-register and say, “Well there’s something you don’t see everyday!”
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I’ll try and pay attention to when it pops up to see if your take on it resonates. I like the possibility; the image of the “absurd” around the edges. Thanks!
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Not a bad post.
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😂😂😂 touché
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An interesting approach.
I never say either one of them. I say: “Well, of course”, because I know like is not always sunshine and rainbows.
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That’s a super accepting phrase! I gotta see if I can incorporate it into my vocabularly. thanks for that!
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Interesting thoughts, I enjoyed the read.
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