“Be safe” was a popular farewell during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cashiers, restaurant servers, friends signing off on the phone—a lot of people offered this bit of comfort and advice. That phrase trotted offstage along with the virus, but millions of people still say, as they did before the circus of masks and social distancing, “Take care.” It’s a standard parting comment, offered without much thought although still precautionary.
In many ways, “take care” is now a byword in our culture, for surely never before have Americans displayed such an obsession with safeguards. Search online for “American concern for safety,” and up spring dozens of platforms regarding our worries about crime, traveling, health, and more. Explore “risk-averse Americans,” and you’ll find commentators arguing that Americans have grown far more wary about rolling the dice in everything from finances to matters of the heart.
