Friday, September 17, 2010

Hi, how are you....you really want to know?

"Hi, How are you?" "How was your weekend?" the everyday or every start to the workweek banter that occurs between co-workers and passersby. The thoughtless way to communicate with someone as a way to be nice to them if you pass them in the hallway, lunchroom, bathroom. I had a few people ask me how my weekend was, and depending on how you answer and then depending on who it is will start the interrogation. For example: "Me: Oh it was good." "Them: Did you do anything exciting?" Do you care, honestly? Would you knowing about what I did over the weekend really make your life any better? And why, what use would you have with that information? I'm going to take us back to my dating-pre-engagement years when everytime I came back to work after a holiday weekend I got hit with "So, how was your holiday?" and then the ladies would check my left hand to see if I was wearing anything sparkling and shiny. They don't check for that now, they won't even ask me what happened. Sorry, just an inside joke for those of you not knowing everything in my life because I've avoided the 'how are you?' question and answer session in the workplace.
Why, why do you need to know? Why do you feel the need to ask anyway? Especially if we don't work together, you don't know my personal life! Think about the many times you've been asked "hey, what's going on?" and what was your answer "uh not much". How are you supposed to respond? The last time I had to think about what to say in response to someone, they had no idea what to say back. I think I came out with "I only got 4 hours of sleep, how do you think I feel?" They ran away not knowing what to say, haven't asked me about 'how my day was' since. These people are fake anyway, I know they are just being polite but just say 'Hi', don't ask for details, don't interrogate, and don't persistently ask me everyday. You then become part of the "I must avoid at all costs' lists, when I start dodging you in the office.
Unless I know you and we're friends and we do talk about things like this, AND I know that you had some big weekend trip coming up, then I'd ask you how it went, and the same goes with a vacation. I sure am not going to tell just the typical co-worker (that I never see, but knew I was on vacation) who asks me how my vacation was that I had such a great time drinking my face off, dancing the night away and almost breaking the headboard. Yeah, stuff like that should be shared between friends not the office chatty Cathy because we all know later on that day in the lunchroom she's repeating that conversation to her flock of hens after they've asked her 'how was your weekend?' and got an earful.