A quick & positive answer
Basically the idea is to just give a quick, positive answer. Even if your dog just died, your car died on the way to the store, and your iPhone battery just died.
If the cashier at the store asks “How you doing?” as you pay for your things, you should respond “Good, how about you?” or “Doing fine, and you?” or “Good, how about yourself?”
And they’ll respond with… yep, you guessed it: “Good, thanks.”
Or “Fine thanks.”
Or some other positive response that doesn’t really answer your question.
Why bother with “How are you?”?
So why ask a question if you don’t want a real answer? I can read in your thoughts… “Because Americans are soooo superficial!”.
No, it’s not because Americans are superficial (though some are, I’ll admit, yes…)
But…. You know the song “It’s a Wonderful World”, by Louis Armstrong. Romain, you know that song right?
There’s a line where he says “I see friends shaking hands, saying “How do you do?” They’re really saying “I love you.”
“How are you?” is the way Americans say “Hello!”
This little conversation “Hey, How are you? Fine, how about you? Good, thanks” is just Americans’ way of being friendly and polite with the people we interact with.
It’s especially the case in service transactions, like with a server at a restaurant, the cashier at a shop, a receptionist, etc.
I know it can be hard to not give a real response. Maybe it feels a bit fake, a bit superficiel. But nope.
That’s just what’s “normal” for this type of conversation. A real response, especially with lots of bad things, that’s uncomfortable.
You should just smile and say “Good, thanks, and you?”
To be truly fluent in English, you need to master these “little conversations” and everyday expressions. Personally, I like this app for learning English, and definitely recommend it!
