How many times have you been greeted with a, “Hey, how are you doing?” from a barista, a security guard or someone riding the same elevator and replied with another, “Hey, how are you?” You do realize you didn’t answer the question, right? It’s probably because you don’t care. You were just being polite and that doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, but every once in a while, maybe we should actually try thinking about our responses so that our interactions, no matter how small, could have more meaning.
I don’t know if it’s our constant exposure to social networking or our culture growing more and more apathetic that has caused us to fill our days with defaulted, programmed interactions. We can’t go around making it rain compassion and interest on every stranger we pass on the street, but sometimes it wouldn’t hurt to be a little bit more human and say things not just because they sound nice, but because we actually give a damn. Next time you utter one of the following phrases, take a few minutes make sure it’s because you actually mean it.
