I try not to lie, ever, even in my colloquialisms.

If someone says, “how’s it going?” I usually deflect because I don’t want to lie, but I also know they don’t give any shits about how I’m doing, especially if they’re just being “nice”. My typical response is that “it’s going”, which IMO, just implies that things have happened and doesn’t really give any indication if they’re going well or not. Same for things like “how is your day?” They don’t care. My go to is usually along the lines of “it’s a day”…

Whatever ends the pleasantries part of the conversation faster. That way I can get to why I’m talking to them in the first place.

I use “are you asking, or telling?” with people that I’m familiar with and in no hurry to conclude the interaction. I usually try to reply in ways that are thought provoking; trying to challenge their use of colloquialisms and actually think about what they’re asking/telling me. I only openly answer questions like “good morning?” When a friend or family member is asking and I’m pretty sure that they actually want to know the answer and aren’t just placating the pleasantries of interactions with others. If I’m specifically asked “good morning?” From a relative stranger, my reply would be along the lines of: “it’s a morning, that’s for sure”, mainly because I don’t really give any shits about making complete strangers think about what they’re saying. If they want to stick to meaningless colloquialisms, I have no desire to prevent them from mindlessly navigating through life without using their higher brain functions.

I deal with enough idiocy from work that I can’t be arsed to care about whether someone I don’t even know and I’m all probability, won’t remember, nor think of again, and will likely never see again, thinks about what they’re actually saying to others by habit instead of being genuinely concerned.

If I ask someone how their day is, it’s because I want to know, either as an extension of my job (which is IT support, aka, fixing shit), or because I want to know if I’m able to make their day less shitty by doing something that helps them.

I’m also a certified first-aider, so when someone complains, I want to know if it’s medical, and if I need to go get something that can help, whether that’s a bandaid or an AED, isn’t the critical point, either is important depending on context, and both are equally important and unimportant depending on the circumstances. A bandaid can be extremely important to protect against infection (and a relatively small cut becoming a very big problem), whereas the AED is extremely important when someone has chest pains, and other symptoms of AFib, while it’s basically worthless for everything else.

I dunno, I’m just some guy. I’m trying my best out here.