I'm still alive over here! I've been a bit busy with work, bar exam study, teaching, and general life. I'll be a bit absent for the next 3 weeks, but once the bar is over, I'll be back.
I crossed paths with one of my co-workers in the hall today. Our encounter went like this:
Co-worker: Hi. How are you today?
Me: Fine. You?
Co-worker: Great.
It was a pretty superficial conversation. In all honesty, I'm not doing fine. I'm tired, grouchy, and I have a headache from the lack of sleep. But I also know that "how are you?" isn't really a question. It's a greeting.
I wonder why that is. Was it always this way? Or was there a time when people asked and actually wanted to know the answer?
2 comments:
I wonder those things also. What if we didn't say "Fine", what if we actually said how we were?
I did have one time that a lady in my home ward asked how I was that was different than the usual. It was shortly after my dad left my mom and was excommunicated. My response was "Fine" because that is what you're supposed to say, right? She totally called me on it. She said "Liar." Then I bawled, right there in the chapel.
On that note, hang in there. I take it the bar is in 3 weeks. There is an end to this current tunnel, and if you look you can see the light at the end of this one. GOOD LUCK!!
I was just talking to my students today about how actually saying how you are violates the norms of social interaction. People also always ask "How are you feeling?" when you're pregnant. It's the same kind of thing. I doubt they actually want to know, so I say "fine" or "tired." No details.
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