It Is What It Is

It is what it is I see the sobbing boy holding his empty cone, ice cream scoop on the floor as his dad hugs him and says, Don’t cry, son, it is what it is. I’ve heard it a lot lately. Is it a current cliché or catch phrase, the pat answer recap signaling an end of any further discussion on the matter? Have I missed something? What does it mean? Was it said to make the crying child feel better? Or like the coach at the post game conference fielding endless questions about why he lost the big game ending his interview with It is what it is. Does it mean it is not this and it is not that, but it is something more vague having no known identity as when Bill Clinton questioned the meaning of it? Instead of it is what it is, perhaps it should be it ain’t what it ain’t ~ ‘taint what ‘taint or it is not what it is not ~ ‘snot what ‘snot. It seems like a lackadaisical auto-response accepting that things are just what they are, nothing more, and nothing can be done about it forever and ever shall it be, world without end, Amen. It is what it is falls in the category with other senseless, accepted sayings such as: at this moment in time, the fact of the matter is when it’s over, it’s over, que sera, sera. Nonetheless, having said this, it still remains the same. it is what it is ~ it’s what it’s or as the poet part of me says, ‘tis what ‘tis.