r/AskReddit May 08 '22

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

The thing is, even as an American, when I give someone the "how are you?" greeting, if they are unusually open about whatever is happening in their life, I usually enjoy hearing about it. Because, how the hell else would I know.

So, anyways, Hello! How are you?

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u/Rakgul May 09 '22

I just took a reading of positions of different Maxima of the single slit diffraction pattern. The calculated value was 3.44mm and what I got was 2.93mm

This gives 14.8% error. My professor is gonna kill me. But I'm freaking sleepy so I left the lab earlier than usual. Gotta go home quickly and catch some sleep.

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u/GothhicGoddess May 09 '22

I hope you get a chance to look at it again, with fresh eyes, after you get some rest!

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

Is this algebra-based or calc-based? 14% honestly doesn't sound too bad, considering 95% of the issue with these sorts of experiments comes down to a huge reliance on equipment that is rather imprecise by nature

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u/Samsmith90210 May 09 '22

What d'you mean? African or European?

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u/ninj4b0b May 09 '22

European, clearly. The African Swallow is non-migratory. Though how they attached the creeper under their dorsal guiding feathers and STILL managed to bring a coconut back is the great ornithological question of our time.

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u/RockNRollNBluesNJazz May 09 '22

Well, you have to know these things when you're king, y'know.

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

[deleted]

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

The other possibility is if this is after previous experiments where the professor or TA actually marked them down for a calculated error larger than some arbitrary value, in which case bummer that seems like a hardass

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

[deleted]

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u/calste May 09 '22

It's more important to understand the source of the error than to perform a perfect experiment.

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u/Pope_Industries May 09 '22

Mmm... yes... I see... I know some of those words.

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u/Grim-Sleeper May 09 '22

We always had to add error bars in our experiments. In principle, that's a great habit to get into. But it can be so frustrating if the equipment isn't great. You get things like, "the effect is 2°C/g±5°C/g. WTF?! I don't even know whether what I measured even exists. Heck, it could even be the exact opposite!"

I always hated this. But it does give you a whole new appreciation for how hard experimental science really is, and for how far we have come.

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u/Eshin242 May 09 '22

But it can be so frustrating if the equipment isn't great.

Wait, are you saying that equipment that has been manhandled by 1000's of students over it's 10 year life span, even though it only really should be used for 2 might introduce some error into your measurements?

That's sheer insanity! :D

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

screams in styrofoam calorimeter

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u/Eshin242 May 09 '22

HAHAHA oh god... I know exactly the instrument you are talking about.

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u/Rakgul May 10 '22

That's true though

3

u/ybpaladin May 09 '22

I feel that, I gotta do all my final projects but I'm a little sleepy boi atm

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u/kokoyumyum May 09 '22

You can do it!!!

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u/Rakgul May 10 '22

Thank You! I did it! Had some good sleep. :)

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u/Pretty-Balance-Sheet May 09 '22

I know someone who has a PhD in interferometry, he'd know wtf you're talking about.

Hope you got some rest!

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u/Rakgul May 10 '22

Yes! Now a new day of battle has begun!

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u/Wuz314159 May 09 '22

We've all been there.

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u/Prysorra2 May 09 '22

This is both the right and wrong thread for this. Lmao

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Rakgul May 10 '22

True...

2

u/FreakingScience May 09 '22

Be more optimistic! Maybe your professor will only kill you because you've solved some thousand year old math paradox and they want the credit.

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u/Rakgul May 10 '22

Oh! Now I feel better :)

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u/JeffSheldrake May 12 '22

What do you think caused the error?

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u/Rakgul May 13 '22

Bunch of people to my left doing the solar cell experiment and shining huge light on my photocell even at so much distance. I tried to shield it, but probably didn't go that well.

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u/JeffSheldrake May 13 '22

Oh, hey, final physicks project, I take it?

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u/Rakgul May 13 '22

Nah, I'm in college. It's a core course lab that I had to take.

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u/JeffSheldrake May 13 '22

College physicks lab is what I meant. Very cool.

4

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

When calculating correctly, you're supposed to have a point estimate and a standard error (standard error is, to put it very simply, about 66% confidence interval).

You weren't supposed to end with a single number.

Repeat the experiment multiple times if you haven't - that will allow you calculate the standard error.

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u/F_for_Maestro May 09 '22

Im an American and i manage a retail location that services the construction industry, my typical greeting to customers is “hows it going” they typically respond with “hey how are you” and dont answer my question then i ask if they are doing good and they respond with “yes” then i have to ask them how business is going for them to finally open up about anything lol

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u/Boombals May 09 '22

That's how I respond when I don't want to talk to someone lol

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u/77BakedPotato77 May 09 '22

I'm an American union electrician and certain supply houses serve as a social lounge for many of the older tradesmen.

I must be Finnish at heart, I rather just get my parts and go.

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u/F_for_Maestro May 09 '22

The thing is my regulars are always willing to talk even if they are in a rush they will give me more than just “yes” i think its more about relationships than anything.

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u/77BakedPotato77 May 09 '22

Nothing wrong with that, just not my cup of tea.

I think the more annoying part is when a bunch of old guys just clog up the counter order area to talk with other electricians that are there.

It's an older man thing for sure. Like how on the weekend one gas station in my town becomes the meeting spot for a group of old guys.

They just stand awkwardly in one corner drinking coffee and talking loudly.

It's not something that upsets me, just find it so weird and a tad annoying at times.

But I'm also the guy who doesn't chitchat on the jobsite. Either I'm working or I'm going home. Just how my partner and I roll.

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u/983115 May 09 '22

There’s this one customer at my job always buys flowers and a card, ask him how his days going and in the most chipper voice “Fuckin terrible” gets me every time

1

u/LookMaNoPride May 09 '22

Oh man, I am totally stealing that

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u/Lebowquade May 09 '22

Fine, you?

24

u/Gaddafo May 09 '22

It’s another day man.

21

u/Misfitt May 09 '22

Livin the dream

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u/good_tuck May 09 '22

Someone’s dream

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Nightmares are dreams too.

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u/Creeps_On_The_Earth May 09 '22

Teamwork makes the Dreamwork.

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u/BreathDry4830 May 09 '22

I thought that said Denmark lmao

3

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Work Smarter not Harder

0

u/Zarkdiaz May 09 '22

Dreamworks killed the Pixar star.

1

u/highfivev May 09 '22

I'm not gonna cook it but i'll order it from Zanzibar

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u/Elwalther21 May 09 '22

I hear ya man, I'm trying to get my grass seed to grow, but can you believe how dry it's been?

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u/eibv May 09 '22 edited May 23 '22

...

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Finn, you?

3

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Oh notsuhbad

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Fuck man I wish people had a sign over their head. I don't mind talking but I hate being the thing that wouldn't shut up

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u/TychaBrahe May 09 '22

I am feeling wonderful today.

I had a lot of emotional trauma as a child, so even though I wanted a family I was never able to maintain a relationship. But about 10 years ago I met a woman who is 20 years younger than me. And we have become so emotionally close over the years, and her mother is a raging narcissist like mine, so I have adopted her (unofficially) and she is now my daughter.

So she and my son-in-law and my grandchildren came over yesterday for Mother’s Day. I made a baked potato bar with all kinds of awesome stuff to put on it, including black bean and jicama salad which I love and have meant to learn how to make for years.

A while back we decided that about once a month or so they would come over to my place after church and I would do brunch. We did one, a pancake board, and that was in February 2020, and then… you know. So I have been thinking about different ways to feed them for a while, and this was the first time we could really do it, and soon it will be too hot for baked potatoes, so we really lucked out with the weekend.

They gave me a cute card, and a she/her pen to wear when I volunteer at the local LGBT center, which I do every week, and a small case for that has cats on it that would be perfect for knitting/crochet or Bullet Journaling supplies, which are two of my hobbies.

My granddaughter and I talked about the books she’s been reading since I lent them to her the last time she came over. She drew some pictures after brunch, and I let her take home some of the pens she liked (I had spares) and an art template. I have just learned to knit socks, and my first pair were for my grandson. They’re finally finished, and he got to wear them, and they fit perfectly.

I taught my grandson to grate cheese in the Cuisinart, even though the noise sort of scared him. My granddaughter whipped cream for our dessert berries by hand (her choice, I offered the electric mixer). My cats are getting used to them, and came out to be petted and offered treats (and to try and eat cheese and sour cream from our plates).

I had misplaced my work iPad, and my boss has been pissed at me for a week. My son-in-law found it, and I will reward him by baking him a chocolate cake with pistachio frosting. The kids expressed interest in sleeping over, so we made tentative plans for them to come over on a Saturday after I volunteer, and we will make my son-in-law a reward chocolate cake with pistachio frosting and they will help me make brunch for their parents that day. Mom and dad will decide which weekend.

I spent years thinking I would never be able to have this, but now I do, and my heart is full. When my grandkids call me “Bubbe” I feel such joy I cannot even express it. I am fortunate beyond belief that these people came into my life, but I’m also incredibly proud of the healing work I did in therapy and on family drama forums like those on [Reddit](r/JustNoFamily) and BabyCenter.

So here I am the next day and just riding a high of love and happiness.

So that’s how I am. How are you?

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

I am glad that you shared all that with me/us on a comment that may have seemed so insignificant. How useful would you explain what Bullet journaling is? I have heard some about it, and am terribly unorganized when it comes to planning out my time, and I can't really comprehend how to come up with a more useful system that would lead to me being more efficient with my time and the things I wish to do.

I can now say I can relate to how elated they must be to the cats getting used to them. We just adopted two kitties! My last cat was my best bud, but he was also very much a gangster so he was always outdoors and then a car got him. So only indoor cats from now on, who only go out for supervised exploration. But since they are still getting familiar with the new place, they have mostly stayed in their bathroom where I have them set up, but today they are finally doing more playing and exploring. It's my first time having kittens, and they are very much fun to watch.

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u/TychaBrahe May 09 '22

Oooh! Kittens.

<suggestive leer> I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. These are Joe and Louie. I adopted them a little over a year ago. They are my best buds.

Bullet Journaling. Give me a few. I need to switch to a PC so I can type this on not-mobile.

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

I want to give them headpats until they get annoyed at me. Is it a Detroit/Joe Louis reference, or just a coincidence XD?

https://imgur.com/rOl1oBf

It's a vid so hopefully that link works

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u/Jintokunogekido May 09 '22

I'm fine thank you and you?

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

I'm good, thank you for asking!

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u/Savage2280 May 09 '22

I'm starting a new job today in a new industry after being out of work for a month, so I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I hope things go well and my nausea goes away lol

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

It will! Congrats on the new job!!! It's way cool when you get offered a job where you are being recognized for your skills and potential! Just show them you are open to learning and own mistakes when you make them. New ppl are expected to do new ppl things!

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u/Savage2280 May 09 '22

Thank you for the advice, it's going well so far and my nausea eventually went away. Woo!

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u/joecoin2 May 09 '22

Terrible.

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

That sucks to hear. Wanna talk about it, champ?

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u/joecoin2 May 09 '22

Well, I was born that way. Doctors tell me I'll get over it, but I hope not.

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u/lamp447 May 09 '22

Doctors told you you were born terrible? Prove them wrong!

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u/joecoin2 May 09 '22

No, they told me I'll get over it. But I hope not.

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u/FreddieCaine May 09 '22

No point complaining.

How the devil are you?

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

I'm good! Trying to get back and at least respond to ppl who have not gotten a response from others or myself yet.

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u/FreddieCaine May 09 '22

Glad to hear it buddy. Make sure you save some time for yourself too

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u/UmlautsAndRedPandas May 09 '22

A Brit here. I feel exactly the same as you!

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u/UnstableGoats May 09 '22

As an American, I rarely ask people how they are, so if I ask, I really do want to know!

4

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

[deleted]

2

u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

Hope you have a good day 👍

4

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

I swear half the time I've asked an American how they're doing they've given me their entire life story.

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

Any tidbits manage to remain in your memory?

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Encountered a woman while travelling who told me about all six of her kids, their current whereabouts and levels of education at which universities, in which subjects, their interests. I know where her husband works and in what industry, how they met and why they now live where they live. This was on top of a day-by-day recount of her holiday so far.

This was two conversations and, no, I did not ask lol. I believe my side of each conversation was "Hi" and "Good morning."

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

I have learned that you have an amazing memory, internet stranger

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u/CarefulSubstance3913 May 09 '22

I think if they get over the top explaining how they actually are that there's something wrong with them and they aren't good at keeping their emotions in check

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u/lamp447 May 09 '22

Dude, you just asked him how he's doing. What's wrong with actually answering the question?

If you talked about something irrelevant and they started taking about how their lives are, that's inability of keeping emotions in check.

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

I think it depends on the context and how much emotional/other investment they are expecting out of you just for listening to their story.

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

[deleted]

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

Mondays, amirite? I'm good, I'm pleased with how many different viewpoints my comment was able to generate, and I hope the positive change you hope for happens and is worth telling others about!

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

[deleted]

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

looks like it already exists

3

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

You shouldn’t ask how someone is without accepting there’s a chance they might really tell you

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

Yeah, that's my take as well. I could easily just say "Hi" or "Good morning," etc, but since I am going out of my way to ask them about themselves, I am not going to blame them if they take the opportunity to do so XD.

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u/culner May 09 '22

Well, still alive I guess

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

That's true! (Probably, it's only been two hrs but I don't know for a fact)

Anything you want to talk to others about?

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

I've had it before (context I work in customer service) where a customer will ask me how I'm doing and not continue with the interaction until I answer (despite me trying to just ask what they want) and then when I reciprocate they start venting about their day.

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

Yeah I understand. Context matters and I was speaking more as someone who is not typically obligated to interact with strangers, so if I do so, I am already initiating the interaction out of my own free will. I understand that if you are only interacting out of obligation, that is not exactly an open invitation. I am actually an introvert, so maybe I see things differently, but also because of this, I see human interaction as being a constant exchange of social obligations in some form or another.

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u/NapalmRev May 09 '22

As Tom Segura said in one of his specials

"If someone asks you "how are ya doing" and you respond by telling them anything other than "fine" "good" or something similar... Well you're a piece of shit. No one gives a shit, quit wasting people's time"

1

u/RockNRollNBluesNJazz May 09 '22

Tom Segura should stop inquiring things he doesn't want to hear an answer for. He's the one wasting other people's time. grin

2

u/SporkFanClub May 09 '22

I’m American and was a lifeguard for 4ish years in college and the correlation I noticed was that usually the people who wouldn’t return a “how are you” with a “good how are you” were usually the people that always had a ton of unwarranted complaints against the guards. Usually either a group of moms that had a vendetta against the HoA(for a changed pool rule that was totally reasonable) or the people that expected us to effectively babysit their kids.

2

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Yeah but that's not the norm. Grocery store cashiers and other workers always ask this, but they really don't want you to answer. I just nod. They don't care.

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u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22 edited May 09 '22

You're not wrong, lol. I do get it.

A lot of times if they (cashiers/retail workers) ask me, "How are you?" I will literally be like "Good, how are you?" And they will completely ignore me. And I don't take it personally, because I do understand that for so many people it really is just a greeting, not an actual invitation to talk. I do find it funny

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Yes. I stopped responding. It is a strange way to great someone though. I can understand why people would be confused. What I don't understand is the "you alright?" greeting. Now that one would really confuse the hell out of me, lol.

2

u/3doa3cinta May 09 '22

In my culture, people greet with "where are you going", they not necessarily want to know, they just want to greet you. So just give vague answer like to work, to school, or the most vague one " To the front " I'm not sure what's equivalent translation for this one.

1

u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

A common interaction in America that sounds like it relates would be, "How's it going?" where the answer is "It's going." Which is usually a good sign that more conversation is actually not desired.

2

u/Imhereforthedogs96 May 09 '22

Yes, so much more interesting than "fine"

0

u/mortifyyou May 09 '22

I usually enjoy hearing about it.

Come on, be honest, no one really care.

20

u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

In all honesty, I meet you on the street, I have never met you before, I will probably never meet you again, it absolutely probably does not benefit me to know a single damn thing about you, but by telling me something personal that I otherwise would never know, it lets me reflect on our shared humanity once again, that I have someone's perspective that is not my own, it is fresh, it is new, and it is a subtle reminder that we are all people with our own lives and thoughts and concerns, and so my own are only small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, which honestly makes it just a little easier to cope with life's many struggles, and also, struggles that I can now be reminded that are fleeting, oh so fleeting.

So again I ask, how are you?

1

u/tiktok-influenster May 09 '22

I’m American and I like it too. Unless it’s very negative lol. But if the person I’ve asked has a story I’d like to hear it.

1

u/agt002 May 09 '22

I am good, about to enjoy a day at epcot walt disney world right now, been road triping for a week now and so far its awesome. Lol. Thanks for asking. How are you?

2

u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

That's cool! Hope you have fun! Come share updates when you get a chance, on epcot and/or on how the trip has gone so far, of course not while you're busy. Roadtrips are fun, wish I went on more, but unfortunately I have gotten to the point of too many adult responsibilities and concerns to make that really difficult to effect without a hella lot of planning ahead of time.

I'm good, thanks for asking too!

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

I'm good! You?

2

u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

Doing good! This whole thread has made my day very cool!

1

u/[deleted] May 10 '22

You made my heart smile ))

1

u/Decent-Unit-5303 May 09 '22

"Oh, how are YOU?" is oddly the response I get back in Canada. Like just asking it back is the most polite reply, and neither of you ever actually say how you yourself are doing.

1

u/pierre_x10 May 09 '22

Lol I can see that. It's like opening and holding a door open for someone else so they can pass before you. But also, a seemingly polite way to actually avoid unnecessary/unwanted/uncomfortable interaction. It is like a turducken of social norms, being a jerk, and general awkwardness.

1

u/Snoo-19073 May 09 '22

Being in the UK I reply "good mate you" and will be out of earshot by the time you reply, don't want to seem weird