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"I'm doing okay"

Giggly

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I am not sure at all, since I don't know this person. I am simply cautioning against an assumption, hence the highlighted.

Would you have added the comment about your leg?
 

Coriolis

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Would you have added the comment about your leg?
Only if the other person already knew about it, or if a problem were apparent, e.g. I was limping, or had a visible cast/bandage. In that case, I might make a brief comment to forestall further inquiry.
 

hazelsees

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Probably "okay" means different things to people. I just answered "okay" to the question "how are you?" in an email (from someone I haven't talked to in many years.) I actually thought about my answer... I'm not great, but I'm not bad...and I'm much better than I was when I "knew" this person, so "okay" seemed like a good answer. To me it's a genuine answer. Actually, I answer with "okay" often when asked how I'm doing. It's a good answer because it can be left at that...OR for the asker person who has time/interest, they can follow up with "why just okay?" or whatever that COULD lead to a conversation. That I might or might not be interested in having.
 

EJCC

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I agree that it depends on the person. I'm not sure what the majority response would be to the OP question.

that's generally my response if I'm NOT doing ok... otherwise, I'll respond with "excellent!" :cheese:

I'm doing ok means that I feel like shit and don't want to talk about it :ninja:
^ Same for me.

In my personal social situation lingo (edited):

"I'm great/excellent" = "I'm great/excellent"
"I'm good" = from "I'm good" to "I'm okay" to "Meh"/"I'm neutral, whatever" to "I'm not okay"
"I'm okay" = "I'm really, really not okay. At all."
 

Giggly

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Only if the other person already knew about it, or if a problem were apparent, e.g. I was limping, or had a visible cast/bandage. In that case, I might make a brief comment to forestall further inquiry.

I actually did not ask how she was doing. I said "I hope everything is going well with you".
She has often said "I hope all is well" to me.
 

Rail Tracer

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When I say that I am doing "okay" or "just fine", it usually isn't interesting to me enough to say it was good or great. I do say I had fun, or it was good/great/exciting/etc if I think those words describe the day correctly. But if I think the day wasn't that interesting, I would just say that it was okay.

When I say I am doing fine, it is usually just means "same-o same-o."

Not to much to hide from if I were to say such a thing, other than flat-lining the answer.

That might be a bad habit though if people think that saying "okay" "just fine" is more than just that.
 

Giggly

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That might be a bad habit though if people think that saying "okay" "just fine" is more than just that.

I automatically think nothing of it, but now after the fact I'm wondering if there was more to it, based on the full interaction.
And the replies in this thread are varied, so I wouldn't say that it's a "bad habit" to think that, in general.
 

ThatsWhatHeSaid

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When someone says "I'm doing okay" after being asked how they are doing, doesn't this mean that they are doing average or mediocre? Not good but not bad either, just okay. Like if you were doing good, you would say so, right? "I'm doing good"

It all depends on what follows. If there's a pause, then "I'm doing okay" could mean "I'm not so great." But if it follows with an immediate "how're you?" as in "I'm doing ok, how about yourself?" It means nothing.
 
G

Glycerine

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I tend to read it as meaning 1) I'm really ok 2) deep in thought (can be neutral, positive or negative) 3) none of your business, or 4) trying my hardest not to fall apart/stay calm.
It really depends on the person, body language and tone.

Relaxed and neutral = 1. Zoned out and noncommital = 2. Tense and rigid or tense and neutral = 3 or 4. I typically don't inquire further unless there is at least some rapport.
 

Viridian

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Context and inflection matters, I guess...

As for me, it's sort of a Schrödinger's Reply. It could mean more than one thing, because I sort of like being discreet. Or maybe I'm just naturally that way. I usually use something slightly more neutral and less despondent, like "I'm [feeling] pretty good". Having a dad who is a bit paranoid about your mood teaches you these things. :wink:
 

Chaotic Harmony

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For me it's who is asking that makes the difference. If it's someone that I'm not friends with, nor care to be. Regardless of how awesome I am, my response in going to be "I'm okay." I'm a fairly private person and I don't want someone digging deeper into why I am awesome or why I am depressed. If it is family or friends and I say "I'm okay" it means something is bugging me, but its not bad enough for me to want to talk about it.
 

KDude

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I answer this way all the time. I'm too lazy to go into detail or be emotive, I guess. It doesn't mean anything more than that.
 
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"I got no dream, man. I'm all dead inside."

Someone play with that and get back to us.
 
G

garbage

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I'm overall doing "okay enough" that I can truthfully give it as a response when I don't want to bother spilling my guts.
 

netzealot

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Who ever says "bad... I'm doing terrible, man". Nobody. And 99% of the time they know that when they ask and probably just want to seem like they care because they have their own internal feelings of obligation and insecurities to combat. I usually say whatever I gotta say to make them feel better and forget they asked, 'cause lets face it, if I hypothetically wasn't ok, what are they going to to do about it? Might as well help them out and save myself some breath. I already do more unnecessary explaining every day than I ought to.
 

INTP

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i really dont know how to answer the question(it just sounds so absurd and doesent make much sense to me), so ill usually just say that im okay or say something that makes as much sense to others than that question makes to me :D
 

Coriolis

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i really dont know how to answer the question(it just sounds so absurd and doesent make much sense to me), so ill usually just say that im okay or say something that makes as much sense to others than that question makes to me :D
That question seems silly to me also, because usually people aren't interested in an accurate answer. As a result, I hardly ever ask people "how are you", and when I do, I really want to know.
 

INTP

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That question seems silly to me also, because usually people aren't interested in an accurate answer. As a result, I hardly ever ask people "how are you", and when I do, I really want to know.

for me its more about that how im doing is really dependent on the moment and even if i was annoyed about something and for example i see some friend who i havent seen in a while and am happy to see, then the how im doing changes because of that and the annoying thing goes to background, but thats not really what they are asking about, but they are asking some overall picture with all of the background processes combined. but its impossible for me to combine them all, because i view all of them as separate things and dont really possess this sort of overall feeling certain way thing, its just that if i concentrate on some annoying thing at the moment, then im annoyed or if im concentrating on some happy thing then im happy, but they go into background if i start thinking/analyzing something for example(in which case all feeling things are in the background) or situation changes(when i might not have been formed an opinion about it whether it is annoying situation or positive one or then its that current situation that is the answer to the question, but its not what people want to hear). also even if i were annoyed about for example just hitting my toe on something and feeling pain, then some old friend comes to me and asks how im doing, if i answered that "im feeling like shit because i just hit my toe to that curb 20 seconds ago, but now i dont feel like shit anymore because while answering the question, i got my mind off the pain and im feeling ok now", well that would just sound weird :D

ps. i just talked about this with my INTJ friend few days ago and he thought about it much like you do
 

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That question seems silly to me also, because usually people aren't interested in an accurate answer.

Who cares if they aren't, I tell them anyway whatever I am feeling...and if they don't want to hear it, next time they won't ask:D
 
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