Take Me Away!

Yesterday I talked to two people, two voracious-reader friends of mine, and they both have a different idea than I do about what "platitude" means. One said platitudes are comforting things you say to people that make them feel good, like telling someone affected by a friend's death, "It was his just his time to go" and "I'm sorry for your loss." Another friend said platitudes were the equivalent of a pat on the head. I told him about my struggle to avoid such commonness. He said it's easier to do in writing than it is with speech. Annoying, well-worn phrases are just easy; and without them, the observer would think you're weird. Take me away!