Why do people ask you “how are you” when they really don’t want to know? They aren’t being polite; if they were simply being polite they’d say something different like “it’s nice to see you.”
A few days ago a lady asked me ”how are you” and I told her that I was not feeling well at all. Her reply was “that’s good.” Obviously she wasn’t listening.
Then I went to a fast food restaurant the other day and the cashier asked me how I was and I said “fine, how are you?” and he said “terrible.” My reply was “I’m so sorry to hear that!” He was shocked at my reply; he laughed and said “no, I was just kidding, I’m fine.” He was testing me to see if I was really listening. I was!
I think that if people are not prepared to hear (and respond appropriately) how someone REALLY is then they should not ask “how are you”