is "choose not to answer" an option?
Jul. 16th, 2020 05:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marcicatPeople (okay, mostly coworkers; there was a company push to get people to socialize more for our mental health, or something) keep asking me things like "how's it going?" or -- even worse -- "how are you doing?"
And look, I wasn't great at answering those questions *before* all of this, but now I feel completely at a loss for an acceptable answer. 'Fine' seems like an obvious lie, and it's less clear than it was pre-pandemic if that is still what's expected. But anything approaching the truth would take much longer to explain than the thirty seconds or so that seem to be allotted for the polite 'pre-meeting chitchat.'
(I contain multitudes! I feel many things, all at the same time! My state of being cannot possibly be summed up in a single word!)
So far, the following has been relatively effective
*With 'how's it going,' I can usually get away with pretending the question was actually 'what's a thing that happened today?' (As in, 'How's it going?' 'I went for a walk this morning before it got too hot.')
*Applying the same logic to 'how are you doing,' I pretend that the question was actually 'what's a specific thing and your feeling about it?' (As in, 'How are you doing?' 'I'm glad to see the sun today after the rain earlier.').
In conclusion: Now that easy topics like 'wow the office parking lot is crowded today' and 'I'm going to the break room to get more free coffee' are off the table, weather has emerged as the true conversational hero. Thanks, weather!
And look, I wasn't great at answering those questions *before* all of this, but now I feel completely at a loss for an acceptable answer. 'Fine' seems like an obvious lie, and it's less clear than it was pre-pandemic if that is still what's expected. But anything approaching the truth would take much longer to explain than the thirty seconds or so that seem to be allotted for the polite 'pre-meeting chitchat.'
(I contain multitudes! I feel many things, all at the same time! My state of being cannot possibly be summed up in a single word!)
So far, the following has been relatively effective
*With 'how's it going,' I can usually get away with pretending the question was actually 'what's a thing that happened today?' (As in, 'How's it going?' 'I went for a walk this morning before it got too hot.')
*Applying the same logic to 'how are you doing,' I pretend that the question was actually 'what's a specific thing and your feeling about it?' (As in, 'How are you doing?' 'I'm glad to see the sun today after the rain earlier.').
In conclusion: Now that easy topics like 'wow the office parking lot is crowded today' and 'I'm going to the break room to get more free coffee' are off the table, weather has emerged as the true conversational hero. Thanks, weather!
