Back in my Yahoo chatroom days, I used to wander around just to see what people were talking about. There were rooms for everything — the China chatroom, the India chatroom, even the Cat chatroom. I went into the cat chatroom once, as my old avatar: Blackie the Rascal Cat. But nobody wanted to talk to me. Ignored by cat people! The irony. 😂

Then one day, I saw this interesting room: Pagan and Atheist Chatroom. I thought, Wow. Pagans and atheists… together? On the same side of the screen? What on earth do they have in common that they’d want to share a space?

My curiosity got the better of me, so I clicked in. To my surprise, the conversations were friendly and cordial. Pagans talked about their beliefs, atheists about theirs. No shouting matches, no insults just honest exchanges.

I enjoyed myself so much that I even participated a bit, asking questions here and there about paganism and atheism. After a while, though, I got tired and decided to leave. Since I’d been quite active, I thought it polite to say goodbye: “Alright everyone, I’ve got to go. Bye!”

One or two people typed back “Bye, Nora.” But several others said: “Later, Nora.”

I hesitated. Later…? So… did that mean I shouldn’t leave yet? Confused, I stayed on for a while, reading the chat.

Then someone asked: “Nora, I thought you said you had to go?” I replied, dead serious: “Yeah, I did… but several people said ‘Later’, so I stayed. Is it okay for me to go now… or later?”

The entire chatroom exploded into riotous laughter.

That was the day I learned “Later” just means “Goodbye.” 🙈

And honestly, I still don’t get it. Why can’t Americans just say goodbye if they mean goodbye?

Why must make it sound like I’m supposed to stick around and wait? 😂