"How has your day been so far?"

[spikey]

This morning I went to have my eyes tested, and upon entering the shop was dealt with initially by a fragrant young man with a pleasant manner and a strange haircut.  He invited me to sit down at a desk, enquired as to the reason for my visit, and prepared to enter my details on his computer.  So far so good.  He then said "So how has your day been so far?".  This threw me.  With living the simple televisionless life that I do,  I had not met the question before when posed by a stranger, so all I could think of by way of reply was "Mustn't grumble".

 

How is one supposed to reply?  Do you say "Well, actually I got up a bit late, then had a bit of struggle with the lid of a new jar of marmalade which set me back a bit so I was late switching the kettle off before it filled the kitchen with steam, and after that it's just gone from bad to worse", or what?

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by spikey
the inevitable typo

[woodenhead]

People in retail are specially trained to catch introverts completely off guard and throw us into an anxiety attack.

 

Or sometimes people with anxiety asked trained questions like 'How has your day been?, Are you going on holiday this year? or a good old favourite 'What are your top ten....?'

 

Or maybe he was just being friendly.

 

I always answer 'fine', it's just not the done thing to spill the beans on the true mundaneness of our lives.

[ardbealach]

1 hour ago, spikey said:

This morning I went to have my eyes tested, and upon entering the shop was dealt with initially by a fragrant young man with a pleasant manner and a strange haircut.  He invited me to sit down at a desk, enquired as to the reason for my visit, and prepared to enter my details on his computer.  So far so good.  He then said "So how has your day been so far?".  This threw me.  With living the simple televisionless life that I do,  I had not met the question before when posed by a stranger, so all I could think of by way of reply was "Mustn't grumble".

 

How is one supposed to reply?  Do you say "Well, actually I got up a bit late, then had a bit of struggle with the lid of a new jar of marmalade which set me back a bit so I was late switching the kettle off before it filled the kitchen with steam, and after that it's just gone from bad to worse", or what?

 

 

[ardbealach]

You should have told him that you were having a great day fettling your bogies.  I am sure he would then have been the one to have the embarrassing silence. (Alisdair)  

[J. S. Bach]

1 hour ago, spikey said:

This morning I went to have my eyes tested, and upon entering the shop was dealt with initially by a fragrant young man with a pleasant manner and a strange haircut.  He invited me to sit down at a desk, enquired as to the reason for my visit, and prepared to enter my details on his computer.  So far so good.  He then said "So how has your day been so far?".  This threw me.  With living the simple televisionless life that I do,  I had not met the question before when posed by a stranger, so all I could think of by way of reply was "Mustn't grumble".

 

How is one supposed to reply?  Do you say "Well, actually I got up a bit late, then had a bit of struggle with the lid of a new jar of marmalade which set me back a bit so I was late switching the kettle off before it filled the kitchen with steam, and after that it's just gone from bad to worse", or what?

 

My answer would have been "Better than yours, I suspect.".

[J. S. Bach]

27 minutes ago, ardbealach said:

You should have told him that you were having a great day fettling your bogies.  I am sure he would then have been the one to have the embarrassing silence. (Alisdair)  

And he comes back with "GWR or LMS?"!

[Jonboy]

I think they are inviting a monologue on the diodes in your left hand side…

[Kylestrome]

I believe the 'correct grumpy old man' response is "none of your bl**dy business, young man!" 😄

[Reorte]

Not sure what's wrong with a good old fashioned "How are you?" if necessary, something that's only really replied to with the same question.

 

If it's being a grumpy old man before my time to find this fake, overly-familiar "friendliness" creepy and inappropriate then I'm glad to be one.

[kevinlms]

I get that question from scammers often.

 

I tell them that I was fine until you rang!

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

You missed a trick there, throwing him a curve ball back is the way to reply, my stock answer being "in respect of what?"

 

Mike.

[Hroth]

11 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

And he comes back with "GWR or LMS?"!

 

So you say "Gresley, actually..."

And see where the conversation develops from there.

 

[burgundy]

14 hours ago, spikey said:

.... so all I could think of by way of reply was "Mustn't grumble".

 

I hope that you are not a farmer, as that reply would get you expelled immediately from the National Farmers' Union.

Best wishes 

Eric 

[Oldddudders]

40 minutes ago, burgundy said:

I hope that you are not a farmer, as that reply would get you expelled immediately from the National Farmers' Union.

So true. I have a friend, Richard, English but farming in France. I think he and Anita have been here about 25 years. He said to me more than a decade ago that farmers are always complaining, as he was, having bought a tractor that wasn't quite what it was supposed to be. During that decade his fortunes have ebbed to the point where he now has another farm, while his son farms the first one. The 400 acres of the newer farm include a chateau that he has done up, and so they have a b&b business that commands 9.7 out of 10 on trip adviser. And there is a Porsche 911 cabrio in his garage. Farmers have a damned hard time of it. 

[Metr0Land]

"I've never seen a farmer on a bike...."

 

https://www.musicfromtheeastzone.co.uk/bands_artists/SINGING_POSTMAN__THE.htm

[figworthy]

21 hours ago, kevinlms said:

I get that question from scammers often.

 

I tell them that I was fine until you rang!

 

If I get a suspected scammer ringing up and asking "how are you today ?", my reply is invariably "suspicious".  I don't think this is on their list of expected replies.

 

Adrian