37: the funniest number.
this post was submitted on 26 May 2026
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Mental Health
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37 was old in 932.
"I have time, give me total honesty!"
"How are you" is an offer, not a question.
I'd take the 37 minutes if I knew for sure you're not asking me to do or say something real about it. Best I can do is "That sucks."
I’m just imagining the honest answer is “everything is fucked” and the long answer is an intense stare, 37 minutes of sucking teeth, then finally “good”.
I am not, really
It's kind of hard to live in a world or space at least where I genuinely care to hear if you are having a hard time or not, but expecting 99% of people to not be sincere when asking you the question.
It's always a little strange to grow up not really knowing how to talk to people, to go and work on it to get better at it (which took years of fucking up conversations because I said something wrong or whatever the case may be), only for the entire world to change their mindset on stuff like this.
As I was growing up, I was told to treat others how you wanted to be treated, and I really did take that to heart. I've always felt like the world is already a hard place, so why do we have this need to make it harder?
Anyway, generally if someone asks me how I am, I am just honest. Bad days are bad, good days are good. When I ask the question, I mean it.
Just weird to see as I get older. :-]
The horrors persist, but so do I.
"How are you?" "Meh but I keep moving forward, u?"
I've said similar to this in meat space lol. This is a funnier version though, and I'm going to steal it
shrugs idk.
Isn't usually the anwser they're looking for or can comprehend. So just the standard "fine" is suitable. Back in childhood my mother actually started to ban words to force me to use different descriptors when she asked "how my day was". That eventually lead to me answering "bad" which schoked her and she asked "what happened?", to which i replied "you bamned all the other words" . Luckily that was the end of that.
The socially acceptable way to say 'bad' is something along the lines of, "Oh, I'm hanging in there..."
"The horrors persist, but so do I."
“Alright man”
should I call security?
Yeah, but i was a preteen to early teen at that point. My social skills came a lot lot later in life. Not that those are good even today, but passable.
I don't like these "what's the deal with / I hate small talk and 'How are you?'" posts. Like, what do you think?
Yes, a lot of people hate small talk, I get it. But how else would you start talking when you meet people? Warming up a bit with small talk and a greeting is the best way of getting a feeling for one another. Even if you know them it's good for checking their mood.
Move to the topic. Don't waste time on fake pleasantries. Shit's fake as shit, to the point there is standarised response.
If I know you, don't hit me with it. If I don't know you, I don't want to answer..
Well yeah, you don't like it. That's ok. But your experience is not the only valid one in the world.
What do you mean "how else?" - I can come up with several different ways without even really thinking about it.
What do you mean, "it's the best way"? - best for what or whom? Best for you maybe. But not necessarily for others.
Usually it's used as a "hi" substitute, but I acknowledge that the question invites a serious answer, so if they feel like going off, I'll hear them out (within reason).
Once had a coworker that had a serious issue with me doing that. Felt it was insincere and, consequently, rude. Which I get, but from me it's not. Couldn't convince them of that, though.
How about we compromise with describing it on a scale of 1-10.
(With 1 being "Death would be a mercy, the sweet relief of oblivion at last" and 10 being "I wish I could live the rest of my life feeling like this!")