Attaboy, Attagirl, Attaway

In the South, you’ll often hear “Attaboy” when someone wants to give encouragement or express admiration (think Friday night football in a small town and you’ll instantly get it). Since I came of age in the ‘70s, I soon adopted “Attagirl” as a companion phrase (yes, I know that “girl” isn’t used by true feminists, but “Attawoman” just doesn’t have the same zing).

“Attaway” is a non sequitur but I can’t resist including it in this “atta” posting. Long before I knew anybody named Attaway (hey, William and Charlotte!), “attaway” was a watchword in my family. My daddy (pronounced so that three syllables are involved) moved me from apartment to apartment to apartment since I couldn’t afford movers. The seminal “attaway” moment came while we were trying to take a bookcase up a flight of stairs in a two-story duplex. I was on the front end of the bookcase and backing up the stairs (my daddy is a smart man) and the move involved the requisite twisting and turning that always occurs when you’re trying to move a five-foot bookcase in a three-foot stairwell. We managed to get about halfway up the stairs and got stuck. We were hot, tired, and completely over this move (when I was a schoolteacher, all of my moves seemed to happen on the hottest day in July and this was no exception). Daddy repeated with increasing intensity, “Attaway, attaway, attaway!!!” Never particularly gifted with spatial problems, I was completely confused. “Whataway do you want me to go?” was the perfect question because everybody in the house (my mom had heard the increasing volume and arrived to supervise or, more likely, referee) collapsed with laughter. These days we thankfully don’t move much furniture, but we begin any similar chore with “Let’s get the attaway direction clear before we even start.”

Ok, back to the original attaboy/attagirl conversation. It’s really just another way to talk about gold stars. Whatever term suits your fancy is the one you should adopt. The important thing is to take action. I recently saw an article about a guy who wrote a thank you note (to somebody for something) every day for a year. He’s written a book, 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life, that’s scheduled for release at the end of this year AND he’s originally from Cleveland!.

I’m not crazy enough to think folks are going to write a note every single day of the year. Even I’m not that obsessed since I have clients to find in 2011! But I think I’m going to try to write a note, an email, a Facebook post to give somebody a “yeah day” as a young friend called it every week or so. If I meet my goal, 52 people may get a tiny boost. If I fall behind, then whatever number I accomplish will be a good thing.

Wanna take the challenge of the “attaboy/attagirl” with me in 2011? Let’s start!