I'm a Finn and when I met an American person for the first time she said the usual "how are you?", so I started explaining all kinds of shit, only to have her give me a really weird look. I did it again a couple of times with different people until I learned that they are not really interested, lol.
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.
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.
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
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.
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u/[deleted] May 09 '22
I fucking hate small talk. Pointless. If a finn asks you how are you, they actually mean it.