How are you?

One of my strange and bizarre thought patterns occurred the other day. A moment that, had I carried the process through, could have turned into many hours, perhaps days......months,even.
As I walked down Guildford High Street I met a few people that I said "hello, how are you?" to as we walked passed each other on our way to whatever we were doing. And then I thought, "what if you actually replied properly to the "how are you" nicety?".

I suspect the question really came into my mind that day due to the fact that my answer would have been......"well, that's kind of you to ask but I have to say I'm not too good because I have a pretty bad back at the moment, mainly due to the fact that I'm not walking properly because my foot hurts and because I'm now no longer walking very well my back hurts even more and is making my foot hurt more and whilst I've been to the physio, used hot and cold treatment, taken some pain killers and rested as much as I can, it still isn't any better and I think its beginning to give me a headache, which made me remember that I have to go and get some more painkillers for my back, foot and now, of course, my head which is why I'm waking doe the high street and bumped into you!"

And, to be honest, that was just the half of it.....

So next time you say "how are you?" to someone, and don't actually really mean it, just think to yourself carefully, and wonder if you're really ready for the answer!

PG