Hey, How Are You?

What if everyone who said...”Hey, how are you?”...really wanted to know. It would be a different world wouldn’t it? “Not bad.”...could no longer be the standard response if the asker really cared about the askee. The askee would sense the sincerity and be obligated to give an answer like, "Truthfully Bob, I've been a little out of sorts lately." There would be follow up questions. “Are you getting enough sleep?”..“Are you regular?”..."Sit and tell me all about it." People would be late for work because of time spent discussing in detail with a caring asker, the little gas problem, probably from those frozen burrito supremos, that kept waking them up during the night. And that's not to mention the non health related “Hey, how are you?” “Well, since you’ve asked, I’m quite concerned about Float Quoted Market Values actually.” An arm would be thrown over a shoulder...a caring hug...there are emotions to be shared here. Maybe it would be nice though. Someone asking "Hey, how are you?"...actually cared and really wanted to know. But then again, too many extended outpourings about chronic heat rashes, hours of shared concerns over Indicative Calculated Closing Prices and the time spent listening to all that heartfelt advice about home pricing in a volatile real estate market just might tend to slow down the national economy. In the end, it’s probably better that we’re the shallow, superficial society that we are. “Hey, how are you?” “Not bad.” And that’s it. We get a lot more done this way.