Once upon a time I had to interview with the 4-star admiral in charge of naval nuclear reactors; every prospective officer had to. His aide, in the outer office, as part of the directions: "You will walk in and sit in the chair. Do not stop walking. Do not ask how the admiral is. The admiral is fine. …"
So maybe have someone walk around and answer for you?
Mostly these days I say "I'm fabulous!" which has more to do with the outfits I wear than how I'm feeling.
For a while I adopted a phrase that a friend told me they use in Japan, "In the struggle." I love that, because it's so true… all of us really are "In the struggle" as we go about our days and I tend to read it as a hopeful statement of not having given up. Unfortunately, because it is not a common phrase here, people tended to hear it as a more dire pronouncement than I meant it to be. So I've retired that phrase except when meeting friends who I've told the origin of the phrase to.
I'm going to try to incorporate the National Holiday into my response. It'll probably be too long. And will probably be awkward in many situations. Today is National Cream Puff day. Let's say I'm walking my daughter to school. Someone passes me on the sidewalk and asks, "hi, how are you?" and I say "Great! It's National Cream Puff Day"
Um. Ok?
Or what if I respond with "Great! It's National Personal Trainer Awareness Day!" (The awareness part is redundant). What would they think, "um, are you a personal trainer? Are you saying I need a personal trainer? Are you trying to sell me?"
Despite how awkward it can be, I'll give it a shot.
I sometimes say “adequate” in homage to the Fawlty Towers episode with the hotel inspectors. But default is good thanks because anything else gets the look of surprise/disappointment unless it’s my really close friends.
I used to be “fair to partly cloudy” now I’m “still on top of the dirt”, but about to find a new standard answer
Once upon a time I had to interview with the 4-star admiral in charge of naval nuclear reactors; every prospective officer had to. His aide, in the outer office, as part of the directions: "You will walk in and sit in the chair. Do not stop walking. Do not ask how the admiral is. The admiral is fine. …"
So maybe have someone walk around and answer for you?
Mostly these days I say "I'm fabulous!" which has more to do with the outfits I wear than how I'm feeling.
For a while I adopted a phrase that a friend told me they use in Japan, "In the struggle." I love that, because it's so true… all of us really are "In the struggle" as we go about our days and I tend to read it as a hopeful statement of not having given up. Unfortunately, because it is not a common phrase here, people tended to hear it as a more dire pronouncement than I meant it to be. So I've retired that phrase except when meeting friends who I've told the origin of the phrase to.
When I was a little kid I would say “I’m doing very well, thank you, and you?” Which adults would like because it was a kid doing something formal.
Now I have unfortunately started saying “Hangin’ in there!” But I’m in the market for something less annoying.
My favorite stock answer is “outstanding” … it puts a smile on people’s face…
If I’m doing well, it’s “Doing [pretty] well, thanks”; otherwise it’s been “fair to middlin’” for decades.
More often than not I'll say "Ehh, I am." and folks will reply with a "I hear that."
My grandfather would always reply "terrible" regardless of how he was.
I go with "living the dream" with a pretty flat tone of voice
I like to reply, "Jim ass dandy! You?"
🤓
"So far, so good."
"Swell" mostly. (If I'm feeling spicy and it's someone I'm very familiar with, I'll go with "Bitchin'.")
I'm going to try to incorporate the National Holiday into my response. It'll probably be too long. And will probably be awkward in many situations. Today is National Cream Puff day. Let's say I'm walking my daughter to school. Someone passes me on the sidewalk and asks, "hi, how are you?" and I say "Great! It's National Cream Puff Day"
Um. Ok?
Or what if I respond with "Great! It's National Personal Trainer Awareness Day!" (The awareness part is redundant). What would they think, "um, are you a personal trainer? Are you saying I need a personal trainer? Are you trying to sell me?"
Despite how awkward it can be, I'll give it a shot.
My go-to answer is: "Everything's going great, except one thing."
Mine is "Alive, anything more is a bonus".
I always say "Doing great!"
For some reason most people laugh a little when they hear that. I think they can't decide if I'm being cynically sarcastic or if I'm sincere.
I sometimes say “adequate” in homage to the Fawlty Towers episode with the hotel inspectors. But default is good thanks because anything else gets the look of surprise/disappointment unless it’s my really close friends.