Every time I go there and buy something, a cashier will end the transaction by saying, “Be well.”

This is really starting to annoy me.

For starters, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say back to them. Telling someone to “be well” is not a normal way to end a transaction or conversation. I’ve tried my own slogans to say back to them, but it just winds up making everything more awkward:

“Be well to you, too.”

“Thanks. Be well, yourself.”

“May you also be well.”

I usually just nod and say, “OK.”

Most of the time, when I go to Walgreens, I’m already well. How can I get more well? I guess “be well” implies that they want me to continue on my path of wellness, but it puts a lot of pressure on me not to pick up a cold on my walk back home.

What about if I go to Walgreens and I’m already really sick? If I walk into the store with bleary eyes and a hacking cough and I’m clutching a pack of Tylenol Cold? Will a cashier tell me to “be well” then? It would be more appropriate to say, “Be well soon.” Or maybe, “Have you seen a doctor?”