My hubby’s favorite response, used only with good friends and family members
“How ya doing?”
“Fair to partly shitty”
Okay, I guess you have to be there…but it usually makes them laugh.
Shadowfox
“We are what we pretend to be.”
- Kurt Vonnegut
I like to say that I’m fairly okay, or to borrow from Carlin, I’m “moderately neato.” I have a government job, though, so if one of my co-workers asks me how I’m doing, a reply is usually not necessary. A simple eye roll will usually suffice.
" Haven’t missed a meal."
“Day late, dollar short.”
“SSDD”
I say “I dunno, what did you hear?”
Blue Twylight! Have you seen my animals?
A great reply I had heard a few years back:
< In a slow Southern drawl >: Well, I feel like a million bucks, but I look like a refund.
You say “cheesy” like that’s a BAD thing.
“Wide awake, alert, and enthusiastic!”
That usually annoys.
My buddy the vet student always replies with “BARH”, which among anyone but vets compels him to explain: “bright, alert, reactive, and hydrated”, the shorthand for any normal animal when you’re doing rounds.
“It ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive”
Bruce Springsteen
“So far, so good.”
Crystalguy
I like “so far, so good.” Brief, and doesn’t require being perky. I just wish these people would stop saying it altogether. It happened again today in the grocery store, and even though I’d read these responses, I still replied lamely, okay. Call me a grump, but I don’t care how THEY are doing so it just doesn’t occur to me to say “and you?” I don’t want to start up a conversation with the cashier; I just want her/him to scan the damn groceries and bag 'em so I can get the hell outta there. “So far, so good” doesn’t invite a reply, so I’m going with that. Thanks everyone.
Mindless polite mode-“Alright, how’re you?”
More myself-“Not done yet…”
"`Swell.
Like the ‘groovy’ and ‘neato’ response, it elicits smiles. As a contraction of ‘all is well,’ it does answer the question without getting personal.
Peace.
Either:
Ok. How 'bout you?
OR:
Finer than frog fur
I answer honestly, which means my response can vary from “Great!” to “Shitty!”
If I’m in a recursive mood, I respond “OK, how are you doing?” Then I see how many times we can go 'round.
I don’t treat this greeting any differently than others. I usually answer with a question: "how am I doing what?
2nd choice, especially if it’s an obvious prelude to a favor: “I guess that depends on what you’re about to say”.
I’m more concerned about people who come up to me and bark “HEY!” as a greeting. This totally threw me until somebody told me that it’s a favorite midwestern greeting. Until then my reply was “WHAT?”
I always like these:
“Mm, you?” (Mm in this case is just a little sympathetic noise, not like ‘Mmmmmmm, delicious’)
“I hear I’m fabulous.”
and “I’m okay as long as you don’t ask for details.”
If you’re in a biker bar, the correct response is “Up yours, mate!”
At the office: “Do you want the long version or the short version?” Then watch your colleague run for cover.
Quand les talons claquent, l’esprit se vide.
Maréchal Lyautey
Yup.
“I’m still a million bucks shy of being a millionaire.”
“Fair to midlin’, and you?”
“Fair to partly cloudy.”
“Better’n some, worse’n others.”
::muttering:: “I coulda been a contender!”
The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs. – E. Grebenik
I respond to it just fine thank you.
I really try to be good but it just isn’t in my nature!