Asklemmy

I dunno dude, you can assume that the person is being disingenuous, but you can't know that. Does the tech support agent genuinely know you and know what's going on in your life? No. Is there a zero percent chance that they also would be glad to hear that another random person just living life like them is getting through it okay? Also no.

They might not care on the same level or in the same way that your friends might, but when a grocery store worker tells me to have a nice day and I say "you too!" there is a part of me, however small and unaffected, that does genuinely hope this random person just trying to make it work in life is doing all right and has a good day, because I would want that for myself as a random person as well.

You can project that they're being completely disingenuous and don't give a single half a shit how you're doing, but making that assumption for all of humanity, and then allowing yourself to be so bothered by it that you make an internet post is sort of... Silly.

It was alright, not the best but I appreciate the encouragement.

I get where you're coming from, but I'd suggest a slightly alternative view.

While the sentiment may not be the same as if it came from a friend you'd not spoken to recently, etc, I would assume that when you're walking past a random person on the street, and someone asked you how you hoped that random person was, you'd probably be on the "well" end of the spectrum than the "not well".

In that sense, I don't think it's strictly correct to say the statement is disingenuous, but maybe more insincere. It's not a lie, or false, but the person writing it isn't expecting an answer of "well no actually my cat just died", nor in most situations would they take on the task of solving whatever ails the recipient.

So the view I'm suggesting is that while it may not be absolutely sincere, there is truth to the wish in a basic sense.

A good example of this is how British people greet each other with "alright?". It's just another way of saying hello, no one (outside your friends, and even then) are actually asking you to detail how you are. The expected response is "yeah, you?" and anything else really confuses people. It's like answering a knock knock joke with "fuck off" rather than "whose there?".

Does it make sense? No, not really, and it's particularly confusing for Americans because "are you alright?" is a phrase only used when you're seriously concerned about someone's wellbeing, which gets rather amusing when it's being used as a platitude.

Ultimately, I'd say it's better that humans relate in ways which are intended to be positive, rather than neutral (where we may end up dehumanising each other by acting like we are robots), or negative way (by being antagonising).

You don't have to agree, but I do think that it's a pretty innocuous thing.

Dear First is actually a spam filter I have, it's made my life much better by ditching so many utterly useless recruiters.

Love and kisses,

HelloThere

Sure, that's sorta what this entire post is about.