How Are You?

Hi Laura!

There is one lady who has worked here in this building for must be about 30 years, who always responds, “I am here.”   She has answered this way ever since I’ve known her.

I answer differently depending on who asks me.  If somebody I don’t see every day asks me and they are walking down the hall really quick, or they are in upper echelons of administration, I always say “okay” no matter how crappy I feel.  And I usually don’t ask them back how they are.  I’ve always wondered why people ask the question if they don’t want to wait for the answer.  It still feels rude to me even though I know everybody does it.

We have one person who works here that absolutely hates it when people ask him how he is.  He has gone so far to get angry and say well don’t ask me if you don’t want an answer.  And if he does answer, it can go on for quite some time.  I usually just tell him a simple “Good morning”, and that seems to suffice.  He can answer back or not, depending on what he feels like.

But when my coworker asks in the morning, I know I can tell her the truth.  I am not a morning person, so I try to not drag it out much but she doesn’t usually get an “okay”.  I ask her back and usually I get a short story about the birds in her yard or how her garden is or her dogs.  She definitely is a morning person and usually feels pretty good.

The kids usually answer on a scale of 1 to 10, especially during football season.

Do you ever get the feeling that when family you haven’t seen for a while asks you how you are, and you are single, that they are really asking if you have anybody special in your life? AS, Brookings, SD