Thursday, September 30, 2010

grumpy day, part 2

i have this exact interaction approximately 100 times a day:

me: hi!
coworker who i'm passing in the hall: hello! how are you?
me: fine. you?
coworker: fine!

(sometimes i play the role of the second person.  i am equally at fault.)

this has become a huge pet peeve of mine.  can't we just say hello and not pretend to care how the other person is?  because that's what it is: pretending.  we don't answer this question honestly, and if we did the other person would secretly roll their eyes and think, "i was just being polite - i don't really want to hear all this."  OR: can we ask this question only with purpose and really listen to the answer?  "how are you?" has the potential to be a really important question, but it has been totally devalued.

[sidenote: in england they don't say, "how are you?" - they say "you alright?" but it comes out as "y'lright?" and it took me forever to figure out that they actually DO CARE how you are doing and i was being rude by giving my standard "fine" response.  i once had a ten minute conversation with a person i'd never met before because he "y'lright?"-ed me and i took it seriously.  i appreciate this.  DO IT, ENGLAND.]

end rant.

2 comments:

  1. I'm sorry you had a shitty day, but I'm a little glad I'm not the only one who's been hit by the grumpy stick. Isn't it too early in the year to be grumpy for no particular reason? On a positive note, I'm taking the day off tomorrow-- life right now is glorious. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. In south Louisiana they say "Where you at?" but it comes out sounding like "Where yat?" Hence the use of "Yat" as a term to signify people native to New Orleans.

    I'm sorry you're a grumposaurus today! Just think of how much looking-forward-to-TIPsgiving you get to do this year :) Looking forward to it is almost as fun as being there!

    ReplyDelete