Tuesday, July 10, 2007

The Price of Politeness


Sometimes I forget that when people ask how I'm doing they are simply being polite and that they aren't really interested in how I'm doing.

9 comments:

Sharon Spotbottom said...

So is that your wife then?!!

Kenny P. said...

No, my wife's taller.

Justin Ridge said...

HAHAHA! I love this caricature of you! Or, wait....is that a photograph?

Vincent Waller said...

Just so you know Kenny, if I ask how you're doing, I really want to know.

Holley T said...

I had a friend here who was from the Czech Republic (he was playing hockey, here, in Alabama of all places) and he said that was one of the things he hated most and had the hardest time adjusting to here in the states...the polite "how are you doing" conversation opener. No one really wants to know....how sad :(

Anonymous said...

Yeah, man, if you say something like "things have been better," the other person will take it to mean the calamity of the century has just happened.

Anonymous said...

Do you always drink two cups of coffee at a time? No wonder people don't want to listen to you, you could try offering them a cup... Oh wait, maybe you were going to give a cup to the poor little creature, and she still won't listen?! That heartless bitch! You should throw one of the cups of coffee in her face and run away. She'll listen up next time.

So, How ya doing?

Kenny P. said...

Johnnybaffo: One was coffee, the other one was water.

And, I'm fine, thank you. (See? I'm learning.)

Anonymous said...

It's all in how they ask. If they say it with a Brooklyn accent, as in "Howya doin'?" You're better off not making eye contact, nodding your head in a general way and slipping away anonymously. In other words, the same way everyone responds to you blathering away after they've innocently greeted you with "How are you doing?"