How's Life?

This must be one of my least favorite questions ever. It's so packed yet there would never really be time for me to answer with even a hint of truth. We just say good and the conversation moves on...or stops. What did we accomplish? Nothing, it was a waste of breath. So I'm going to give a run down of exactly what goes through my mind every time I'm posed the "how's life?" along with a few other annoying ones.

First of all, this is usually a go-to question when you're standing around with a person you don't know very well and have nothing else to say. Except it never triggers anything new to talk about so it makes it all the more awkward. For most, "good" is the automatic reply. The fact is, even if I was feeling differently, I wouldn't likely tell the person because I don't normally go telling random people about my troubles besides which it wouldn't make any difference. This is meant in the nicest way possible because I'm sure I do the same. I just mean that we have a natural tendency to think about ourselves and aren't likely to care deeply for someone you talk to for five minutes. Life moves on and you forget you ever spoke to them. It's like that with all small talk and that's why I shy away from it.
"What's up?"
"Nothing much."
"How are you?"
"Good."
And the worst one yet...
"How's school?"
"Fine."
It's common courtesy to answer like this even if it's not true. The second one is actually the most annoying for me. Most of the time no one really wants to know how you're feeling and might even feel a little miffed they ever asked if you complain to them. How would you react if I said horrible? What if my cat died and I don't want to talk about it? There are hundreds of things that go wrong every day and very few go by that I'd truly call a "good" day. To me it's just become a meaningless phrase to be thrown around, something to ignore because everyone asks it. But there are still ways to make it meaningful if it's asked in the proper way. Here are some I could think of:

1. Do you really have time to listen?
A common use of it is as you pass someone in the hall at school. I can generally avoid answering by just smiling at them and they won't even care that I didn't reply. Seriously, if you genuinely care about the response, ask it some other time where the only possible answer that can fit in the given time isn't "good."

2. Are you truly interested?
Are you just nodding your head and pretending to listen while really thinking about how you wish you were at home texting your friends? Or are you looking for possible signs of hurt or longing that the person is trapped behind. They might be in desperate need of someone to talk to. I can tell a fake when I see one.

3. Will you remember?
Will you pray for the person? Maybe ask them about it later? It would make it that much more meaningful.

I know that people are only trying to be polite but when it comes down to it, personally I think I'd rather not be asked at all. Sometimes it even leaves me feeling worse. This is coming from someone who had to lie about it every day of her life. I'd think about it a long time afterwards, wondering what would happen if I was truthful. What if I told them, you know what? I have a verbally abusive father at home, I haven't spoken a word all day at school, I lost my favorite pen, and I'm honestly feeling terrible. What then? The one person who asked it of me every day happened to be the one who never listened--my father. He'd ask how school was and though I said "horrid" and "awful" he barely noticed. He'd say "good, good" while riffling through some papers. The occasional time he appeared to have heard and ventured to ask why it was bad, he didn't bother to listen to the explanation. It merely amused him and I was never taken seriously.

Was this a worthwhile post? Probably not. Will it still be a question everyone uses? Undoubtedly. It's not like it mortally offends me, I simply wanted to show the shallowness behind it. So that next time you're about to ask it, you might think twice and try to think of something else...something a little more answerable.