We live in a world where everyone is rushing. People are on automatic pilot. We walk past a friend, colleague and in passing, we blurt out platitudes, casual greetings, automatic questions that we really do not expect a response, we do not want any discourse and in fact if we ask, How are ya? in passing we are stumped…literally, have to back track, if someone says more than a nod of the head, smile or meek “fine”. It’s sad, isn’t it? How pathetic have we become?
How are you?
Why do you ask?
Do you really want to know?
Cos I could tell you
a thing or two…
Do you even care?
Why the hell do you ask
if you just say it as you pass
you don’t even friggin stop
or pause, or even look me in the eye.
So don’t bother to ask me EVER
who the feck cares, right?
I really don’t take it light
and don’t want to even fight
about this, you don’t actually care
about me or anyone but you.
© Cheryl-Lynn, 2014/02/12
Tournesol dans un Jardin 
How are you my dear friend? I do care 🙂
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I know you do:) We tend to get flippant in our ways and it is an expression that bothers me when I know if someone is hurting, that can ruin their day and dig them deeper in melancholy. Hope you are well…I am well rested…one more day of work and then one week to think of ONLY me.
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How lucky for you! I have been slaving away because things just got very busy. I got my first publication with Huff Post UK on Monday. Still a long ways to go. Baby steps. Feeling very blessed and grateful 🙂
Sending you happy joyous energy, CL. Hugs x
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Congrats!!! I feel I’m at a crossroad…perhaps that is the tiredness…time to pause and reflect.
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Well write me, if you like. We can always chat about it. It is always a pleasure to converse with you, CL. Time to pause and reflect can be a good thing too. Hugs x 🙂
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Thank you Shirley, you are always so generous. I may take you up on that to catch up …
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I have a pet peeve: People asking “How are you?” and people replying, “Fine. How are you?” And then look away and you know nobody cares. I never ask, and if anyone asks me I mumble a “fine” cuz it’s so artificial. If I REALLY want to know how someone is they’re gonna get a big hug WHILE I’m saying “How ARE you!!?” I’m glad to know it bothers someone else, too!
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Me too! has always bugged me. I sometimes would answer, “Do you really want to know? folks hate that in general cos they,re too busy with their lives…It bugs me in my line of work though that some can be just as impersonal as in the corporate world.
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It’s funny, actually, but we have reached a point where, if someone does share something personal at work we fee they have crossed an unspoken line. I work from home, so usually the only way I interact is through Skype or phone calls. Half the time we spend on greeting each other and talking about the weather – an absolute sham, because we can’t really share anything personal. So, sometimes I feel, we should just do away with all these courtesies and depending upon the situation, cut the small talk.
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There is certainly the option to forgo niceties…when I worked in sales I remained ME; a client would respond to my “How are you” with a grim “fine” and I would zone in on the mood..”Hmm, sounds like a blue Monday this morning.” and he shared he and his wife were distraught over his mother in law with a terminal disease. It took, what? 5 mins more in our sales call…it made a difference to both of us. We are not robots we are social human beings. But some niceties can be put aside for some, I would agree. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.
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