I feel like crap all the time, and I’m running out of curt answers.
I don’t want to lie and say I’m good just because that’s what’s expected of me, but I don’t want to invite discussion into why I feel poorly.
My go-to response is “Living the dream,” because if this life is a dream I hope to wake up soon. Plus not only is it considered an acceptable answer, it can be played off as a joke.
If anyone needs extra context, being asked “how are you” is an extended part of the greeting here. The asker is really just saying hello still, and although some kind of answer is expected, they aren’t actually curious about your welfare. A genuine response throws people off balance, and is probably unwarranted. Think of coworkers, service workers, or even total strangers being asked this dozens of times a day.
You could pretend you’re in letterkenny. That’s kind of fun.
“HowAreYaNow?”
“Good,andyou?”
“Notsuhbad.”
It’s just a dialog check to get through. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZAz_MROU2I
“I’m still here.”
The horrors persist, but so do I.
“Unbelievable!”
It means whatever the asker wants it to.
“Fair to muddling.” or
“Just another day in paradise.”
Eh.
“Eh, been better.”
I feel like that response is real without oversharing, and invites someone to respond however they want. If they care, they can ask what’s up, or they can just say, “aw bummer man, hope it gets better for you,” or whatever.
I don’t.
Which means the average dumbass that thinks existence isn’t torture quickly stops responding to me. Which means I am quickly alone yet again.
Do better than that. For your own sake, do better than that.
Been better been worse
Eh you know
I’ve been I’ve been
Even the nurses ask that in an office where a majority of patients have crippling, often painful disabilities. lmao. Can’t escape it. I just mentally replace it with “hi” in my head and respond “decent, thanks” (“hello”). Or if I’m really struggling, I leave off the thanks.
Even as someone who’s often bothered by the question, I’m fairly guilty of asking it myself, you’re right that there’s no escape.
My grandfather is quite ill, and his usual response is “as well as can be expected”
I treat it as a real question in medical settings. In some cases it can be helpful information for a provider. Even in the worst case it says “I’m not here for pleasantries, I got problems and I’m here to address them”.
It’s so ingrained in conversational habits. I find myself really struggling for a greeting when I visit someone who I know is struggling or in pain. Like, I don’t want to force them to think about how they’re doing. But then I also don’t know what else goes after that initial “Hey”. v_v
Honest.
In German, we say “shitty would be bragging”.
my goto is “muss ja”
Beschissen wär geprahlt!
The one who can not cope with this answer should not ask!
oh, nice
In Finnish we have a phrase “ei kurjuutta kummempaa” which is said in a happy, jolly way and its usually accepted as “not great but I don’t want to expand on it.” It translates to “nothing worse than misery.”
The juxtaposition is great.
Thats why I like it so much :) Too bad theres no “good” equivalent in English and the chirpy way of saying it doesn’t carry over text.
“Not great but I don’t want to expand on it” is pretty much exactly the kind of response I’m looking for
Thank you for teaching me some new words
Thank you for teaching me some new words
I’m sure you’ll find it very useful. A whopping 0,06% of the worlds population speaks finnish lol
With a smile I say, “It’s there.”
