Scott nails it again: read his inappropriate responses. I often find myself caught in the ‘how are you loop’ or I’ll pull one of these: “Hey Devin, whats up?” “Fine thanks, you?” I almost feel bad at that point but then I remember… most people don’t really care how you are nor want to really know what’s ‘up’. It’s just one of those ‘filler greetings’: a greeting that takes up more words than it needs to. My treatment of this superfluous Q&A session often throws people off guard. Often in line at the grocery store it’ll go as such: “Hi there, how are you?” “Pretty good.” Which then leads to 20-60 seconds of awkward silence as the “momentum” of the conversation comes to a screeching halt. I just wonder why they didn’t ask something more meaningful like “So, looks like you’re out of toothpaste, sliced ham and milk? I go through that stuff pretty quickly too” or “Wow, you’re the first teenager I’ve ever seen buy 12-dozen eggs and 14 rolls of toilet paper. Is that typical?”