I’m gonna give them the real answer and make them wish they never asked.
(context: i work in IT on help desk and talk to people on the phone)
I’m gonna give them the real answer and make them wish they never asked.
(context: i work in IT on help desk and talk to people on the phone)
Is this just Americans or do other countries do this too? I know I do this, out of long habit.
Germans do this, in spite of there being a 70% chance that people will be halfway honest and answer something like “meh” or “it can’t be helped”
OK, thanks. And yah, the response is not meant to always be, “fine”. If you’re having a bad day, you can tell me that without going into all the details. I usually want to know when that’s the case so I can adjust how I talk to you.
I know that it is definitely unusual to some Scandinavian cultures, they take the question literally
I also take the question literally.
I don’t understand neurotypicals.
NT communication often has more to do with ritual and social cohesion than explicit meaning. I can see where it’s evolutionarily useful but it can get really annoying
I don’t mind the ritual and all that really, it’s when people treat it as completely devoid of meaning that I get annoyed. Like it can be idle chit chat, I can be as responsive or generic as I want with it, I can just lie and say fine, or it can spur further conversation, that’s all cool!
It’s people that go “no you’re supposed to completely ignore it and just treat it as if they said ‘hey’” that drive me batty. Or who insist the only acceptable answer is “good”
Good to know, thanks
You alright mate?
Most places have a version of this phrase
Well, yes, but I think the point was do they use it as a conversation starter 99% of the time? I know many places don’t.