Tuesday (#1323)

Topics/tags: Autobiographical

A few weeks ago, when the Rebelsky men [1] were together, one of my children said something like the following [2]:

Most of my friends didn’t grow up with a father who gave absurdist answers to questions.

I can’t recall whether that was a we’re so fortunate comment, a life growing up in the Rebelsky family was harder than you might think comment, or just a commentary on their experiences.

What did my offspring mean by the comment? Well, you see, some time ago, I started answering some questions with the word Tuesday.

What’s for dinner?

Tuesday.

What are we doing this weekend?

Tuesday.

Where are we going on vacation?

Tuesday.

Why is the sky blue?

Tuesday.

The kids quickly learned that Tuesday meant something like I don’t know, I’m not sure, I don’t have the mental energy to come up with a real answer, or stop bothering me with questions. At least that’s what I think it means. I don’t always have a conscious reason for giving that answer. At some point, the answer became automatic, so I sometimes had to correct myself.

What’s for dinner?

Tuesday. Oh, chicken.

What are we doing this weekend?

Tuesday. Probably cleaning out the garage.

Where are we going on vacation?

Tuesday. But your mom suggested Chicago.

Why is the sky blue?

Tuesday.

Unfortunately, my answer doesn’t work for some questions.

When are we going to Chicago?

Tuesday.

See?

Why did I do it? I don’t recall. It was probably for some of the reasons above. That is, it was more fun to say Tuesday than I’m not sure or stop bothering me, or you should know the answer. In any case, it became a habit and quickly became part of family tradition and lore.

Why do I do it now? Mostly, it’s become a habit. And, because it’s part of family tradition, it sometimes brings a bit of levity to a situation.

The table won’t be ready for forty-five minutes. Are we okay waiting?

Tuesday.

Once in a while, I accidentally use the answer in class.

How should we approach this problem?

Tuesday.

What’s the asymptotic running time of this algorithm?

Tuesday.

In those cases, I usually correct myself. I’m not sure if students even notice the seeming non-sequitur (or absurdist answer).

Speaking of non-sequiturs, now I find myself wondering whether my kids said We grew up with a father who gave absurdist answers to questions or We grew up with a father who answered questions with non-sequiturs.

It’s pointless to ask. When I tried to clarify the original comment a week or so ago, I got a response you might expect.

What was it you said about your father giving absurdist answers?

Tuesday.

Definitely a better answer than forty two.

[1] I may sometimes refer to my offspring as the Rebelsky Boys, but, at this point they are all men.

[2] I write something like the following because (a) I can’t recall the exact words and (b) when I asked, they wouldn’t tell me. See the end of the musing for more details.

Version 1.0 of 2025-01-13 .