You’re not doing well.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Instead of How you doing, say Hope you're doing well.

That's de rigueur when greeting people living in nursing homes. If you ask how they're doing, you'll get an earful … anything from a laundry list of their present ailments to their life's story.

[Carruthers]

I remember going to get fuel for my rental car on a Sunday morning in Hot Springs SD where I was staying for a few days.
There was an older, and wonderfully serene, gent behind the till.
'How ya doing?' was the greeting.
Well, although my mouth moved nothing coherent emerged and he continued 'Too early to tell, huh?'

I think that summed it up perfectly.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

… Anyway, the answer that usually comes out of my mouth is a wry "We're getting there!" with a big smile, hopefully conveying something along the lines of "It's shit, actually, but I'm keeping positive about the whole thing!" There used to be a (male) teacher at the school who always answered the question with, "Livin' the dream!" and I might try adopting that, since the more enthusiastically you say it, the more sarcastic it sounds.

My favorite reply, last used just a couple days ago, is "So far, so good." If I want to entertain the person asking, I'll say "So far, so good like in that old joke: On a beautiful spring day, people have their windows open to enjoy the fresh air when a man goes up on the roof of a ten story building and jumps off. As he's falling past the ninth floor, the eight floor, the seventh floor..., people inside could hear him saying, So far, so good. So far, so good."

My second favorite reply is adapted from the French. When they're asked the equivalent of "How's it going?", They reply "It goes." Likewise, my reply to "How are you doing?" becomes "I'm doin." (with a little *shrug*).

[tw]

Its all just another way of saying, "Hello".

[sexobon]

Hi.

[Gravdigr]

It's just something to say.

The person asking rarely gives the first happy damn how you're doing, and doesn't want to hear about your problems.

[henry quirk]

fair to middlin'

[slang]

Originally Posted by henry quirk

fair to middlin'

Haven't heard that in years.

Still not exactly sure what it means but was popular in these parts long ago.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Yep.

And I frequently "fair to middlin'." Nobody blinks.

"Fair to partly cloudy" is a variant I haven't heard since my Navy days.

[xoxoxoBruce]

At my usual gas station, behind the register is this old black man with a curly white beard. He looks like the guy in the Disney movie Dumbo who sings "I've seen a elephant fly". Anyway, I always stop and chat with this guy because he's so mellow. When I walked in today he said, How ya doin' and I cracked up. Then I felt obligated to spend 20 minutes explaining.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by henry quirk

fair to middlin'

Isn't that close to Odessa?


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Midland–Odessa is a metropolitan area located in West Texas approximately half-way between El Paso and Fort Worth, Texas.