i do not say 'good-bye.' i believe that's one of the bullshittiest words ever invented. it's not like you're given the choice to say 'bad-bye' or 'awful-bye' or 'couldn't-care-less-about-you-bye.' every time you leave, it's supposed to be a good one. well, i don't believe in that. i believe against that.

The speaker rejects the social script embedded in the word “good-bye,” arguing that the language of parting forces a false positivity onto moments that may be painful, ambivalent, or unresolved. By mocking the absence of alternatives (“bad-bye,” “awful-bye”), the quote highlights how conventional phrases can flatten emotional truth and pressure people to perform politeness rather than honesty. The insistence—“i believe against that”—turns a linguistic complaint into a small act of resistance: refusing euphemism, refusing to sanitize separation, and insisting that departures can be complicated. In Levithan’s work, this kind of candor often functions as a marker of intimacy and authenticity between characters.