Every day, we all get asked the same question.
By friends, family, strangers and co-workers alike.
"How's it going?"
"How is your day?"
I ask it too, and most likely so do you.
It's a pretty strange thing to say.
Because there's only one way we expect someone to reply.
Why ask at all when we already know what'll be said?
Yet we ask it regardless.
And even with this awareness, every time I hear it, I still hesitate.
What should I say?
Do I tell them the truth, even if it's not great?
If it's sad and tragic?
If it's overly happy and braggy?
If it's none of their business?
If I don't want to talk about it?
What should I tell my family?
My friends, strangers, and co-workers?
Do I tell some people the truth, and others lies?
Mind racing with all this.
I just smile and say:
"I'm okay!"
But when I turn and ask them the same question,
I watch them go through the same internal debate.
By friends, family, strangers and co-workers alike.
"How's it going?"
"How is your day?"
I ask it too, and most likely so do you.
It's a pretty strange thing to say.
Because there's only one way we expect someone to reply.
Why ask at all when we already know what'll be said?
Yet we ask it regardless.
And even with this awareness, every time I hear it, I still hesitate.
What should I say?
Do I tell them the truth, even if it's not great?
If it's sad and tragic?
If it's overly happy and braggy?
If it's none of their business?
If I don't want to talk about it?
What should I tell my family?
My friends, strangers, and co-workers?
Do I tell some people the truth, and others lies?
Mind racing with all this.
I just smile and say:
"I'm okay!"
But when I turn and ask them the same question,
I watch them go through the same internal debate.
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aesythe
Aug 01, 2022
This poem is... universal. Every single person who reads this has cycled through these emotions, this thought process, a thousand times, I promise you. But while it may never feel less perfunctory if you're asking a rushed customer or snobby coworker, the people you care about and who care about you will over time make it known that the question is sincere. Are *you* sincere when you ask it of your loved ones? That's likely how they feel, too--