Oh, Well!

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In my mind, saying "Oh, well" is not quite the same as saying "whatever."

"Whatever" implies a kind of bored ennui with the outcome.
 "Shall we go to the mall? Or shall we stay home and play video games?" "Whatever." 
"Oh, well" is about accepting that this is what happened and now I have to deal with it and move on. 
"I practiced this song for 3 weeks and now in the middle of the performance I forgot the second verse!" "Oh, well!"
"I was supposed to be tested on my response to a front kick but I got a side kick instead!" "Oh, well!" 

When I'm on the way to a meeting, I left early to make my best impression and there's stop and go traffic the whole way, when I make some horrible social gaffe at a party, even when truly difficult things happen in life, such as illness, job loss, family problems, it may be possible to say "Oh, well," to keep myself from getting caught up in the unfairness of it, and just begin to deal with it.

A friend of mine tells me this is the best phrase she ever heard, and she says she learned it from me. (I think I learned it from her, but...oh, well.)

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