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I’m gonna just go on a brief tirade here—
It’s probably just me, but I despise “how are you doing?” as a greeting.
To put this in context, I work in a customer-facing position, handling returns at a counter. When people come up to me and ask “how are you doing?”, 95% of the time they don’t actually care. And it bothers me in particular because I instinctively want to answer the question honestly, but a) that would result in me going into a non-trivial emotional ramble because of the… everything going on in the world right now, and b) being that open with a stranger is weird.
It’s why I’ve settled into using “fine, relatively” whenever I’m asked that question in a context that demands a terse response. It’s as honest as I can be, captures a decent range of emotions, and at the very least can get a rise out of people who aren’t expecting the standard “good” or “great” or “alright.”
I just respond with “Living the dream” and they can guess what I mean.
A tirade? On my tirade app?
It’s more likely than you think.
“The horrors persist, but so do I.”
“I have persisted so long, I am the horror now.”
“What?”
“What?”
“By the way, sniper”
“Can’t complain, wouldn’t do any good if I did”
I know where you’re coming from. My answer these days is always surviving.
Honestly it’s the best I can say most days.
Yep it’s a pointless question. We should all start answering it honestly
Sometimes I wonder if I should stop trying to answer it honestly
As a customer, I ask mostly because I want to be polite; it’s also a habit ingrained in me since I was a kid, so it’s totally fair of you to feel that way. But, look, if you’re having a bad day, tell me, and I’ll be sure to adjust myself accordingly and respectfully. The last thing I want to do is be all bubbly/excited/goofy when your mood is not there.
Usually I’m willing to share more when I can tell a customer is engaging with me earnestly, and believe me when I say that I do strongly appreciate it. Feels like a pressure release, especially on busier days or when I’m on my own at the counter.
We’re not in the abyss, we’re in the car park and snack area adjacent to the abyss. Not too bad.
Same.
(and yeah, I like to take the inquiry “how are you doing” seriously)
