Say....

I'm generally a pretty laid back guy, who doesn't let a lot of stuff get to me. I mean, a lot of stuff gets to me, but I usually don't sweat any of it. I do, however, have a plethora of pet peeves. There are so many little quirks that just get under my skin. I rarely say anything about them, unless there's a close friend nearby.

Today I was reminded of one of my pet peeves. This one happens all the time, so I know you've seen it. Hopefully, you've never done it, though. Picture someone approaching you with a small child in tow, and you ask them what they've been doing. Their reply (the adult's reply) is something to the tune of, "Say we've been playing at the park." They begin the sentence with the word "say."

I don't even know how to punctuate that sentence. Are they speaking for the child? Is the child a puppet? Are they wanting the child to repeat what follows the "say"? Regardless, I don't like it. I don't think it makes the kid appear any smarter, and it just makes the adult look silly. Let the child say it, or just tell me yourself that you've been at the park. Maybe just teach the kid when you poke them in the back to open their mouth, you can do the talking, and together you can give me a puppet show. That would show me you're both pretty darn smart. It would also be pretty funny.