“Hey - How are ya?”
“How you doin today?”
“How’s it going?”
I don’t know about where you are, but where I live (and work), I am asked these questions all day every day by complete strangers who have little to no interest in an honest answer. Sorry to be a bit cynical, but hey – it’s true: the people who ask me these questions could really care less about the state I’m in on that particular day. The expected response is “Great!” or “Pretty good, how about you?” or something along those lines. What I tend to say is this:
“I’m alright, thanks.”
Am I really ‘alright’? Underneath it all? Underneath the blithe, chipper veneer I put on when I leave my apartment, I am actually usually experiencing something like what Henry David Thoreau meant when he wrote this line from Civil Disobedience and Other Essays:
“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”
Quiet desperation… because nothing is as effortless or pleasant as it would seem. Getting out of bed takes effort. Getting myself groomed and fed and off to work… Interacting with co-workers and customers… some days it all seems just about too much to handle. Yet handle it all one must. And when those inevitable sing-song questions come, enquiring in passing as to one’s well-being, one had best be prepared to sing-song right back. “I’m alright, thanks!”
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Where I was in med school, I was definitely asked this a lot, but the people asking often actually did care about what response I gave them--it was definitely a little unnerving at first, but I really grew to appreciate that. I definitely agree with you--in most cases, I really feel that the expected answer is some form of, "Good/Great/Fine/I'm alright."
ReplyDeleteGood to visit your site as a part of my A to Z visits. My theme Blog Promotion
ReplyDeleteWelcome to A to Z April Blogging Challenge 2016 - Co-Participant - Nrao - NRao Blogs 1109
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Management Theory Review