this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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Introverts and misanthropes are not the same thing, kinda sick of people acting like they are.
I'm not a misanthrope or an introvert. I hate that question because I don't want to tell people about my shitty day but I also don't want to lie.
I just have some empty phrases for that purpose, like "It's going!" or "It sure is a day!". Feel free to combine with facial expressions that are difficult to interpret for maximum confusion.
Thing is, it's smalltalk. Smalltalk serves a purpose and it's not the acquisition of information, so your concrete answer is kind of vain.
Smalltalk is rather for getting an emotional feel for each other. It's the first step towards any sort of interpersonal relationship. And it can also lead to deeper topics, but it doesn't have to.
No, that definitely isn't its usual purpose. We do it to soften otherwise mechanical interactions where there is no expectation beyond the exchange of information required to facilitate a transaction.
Small talk serves multiple purposes, it does both things, not just one or the other.
My go to answers are: "I'm hanging in there", "been better, been worse", "oh you know how it is", (if they ask "how's it going?") "it's going", etc. You can be honest without being candid.