Have you ever walked down a hallway in School / at work and saw someone you knew walking towards you?
You have?
Good - now follow-up question: do they ever ask how you are…..and then MOVE ON, not waiting to hear the answer?
Me too! And I find it *really* odd / annoying.
I mean, if you’re going to ask “how are you” to someone, shouldn’t you also do them the courtesy of waiting for them to tell you their answer? It’s a simple question, sure, but the answer isn’t always “Fine, thanks.”
Sometimes it’s “my wife is dead.”
And if that’s the answer, not waiting to hear it just seems insensitive.
And since there’s no way of knowing if that’s what they’re going to say before they tell you, you really need to be prepared for it, on the off chance that their wife really did die – just in case.
Or here’s a simpler solution: why don’t people, instead of not waiting for a response, just NOT ask the question? It’s really more efficient. You can just say ‘hi!” instead, which simply acknowledges the other person’s presence without wasting your breath or their time as they try to answer you. It’s still polite, but clearly establishes that you don’t want to know how they’re doing – because you’re too busy! Otherwise you’d stop and ask them.
Really, people – learn some manners.
Man, I’ve been saving that topic since I moved to Los Angeles. Didn’t realize it would come out so….angry. Not gonna edit it, though. I feel the anger really helps get my point across.
2 comments:
You know, to be honest, I have actually turned "howzit" into a hello-style greeting rather than a question. Nobody says it out here, so I'm trying to bring it to da East Side.
I think a lot of people just say "how are you" or its variants to mean "hello" now (bouncing off of C7). I'd say for every three people that ask how I am while in motion, one person will actually stop to inquire... that is, if I even stop.
Post a Comment