It's a greeting. It is meaningless other than a polite gesture. Just like when people say "Good morning" they aren't really wishing that person a good morning, just saying something friendly.
Plus the response is naturally escalated based on how well you know the other person. The first time you walk into a shop it is "How are you?" "Good, you?" "Good thanks" But if you have been getting your morning coffee there every day for a year maybe you do actually share something a bit personal. Probably starting off with a positive "Great, I found $5 on the street this morning" and eventually becoming personal and maybe even saying something like "Not great actually, ...".
So it is actually a nice way to transition into a more intimate conversation as you get to know someone.
The thing is that we do have "Morning!", "Hello", "Hey", "Yo!", "Hi!".. and many other greetings that are not in the form of a question that actually leaves it open for the other person to respond with honesty and that is often also used as a conversation starter. If you really aren't open to a conversation, use one of the shorter friendly greetings.
If I say "how's it going?" and they answer with something I don't have time to hear... at most I would excuse myself and politelly say that I don't have too much time to talk.. but complaining about the other person actually answering truthfully makes no sense.
Of course it's just a comic, but still.. I don't think the one answering is in the wrong here.
It's a greeting. It is meaningless other than a polite gesture. Just like when people say "Good morning" they aren't really wishing that person a good morning, just saying something friendly.
Plus the response is naturally escalated based on how well you know the other person. The first time you walk into a shop it is "How are you?" "Good, you?" "Good thanks" But if you have been getting your morning coffee there every day for a year maybe you do actually share something a bit personal. Probably starting off with a positive "Great, I found $5 on the street this morning" and eventually becoming personal and maybe even saying something like "Not great actually, ...".
So it is actually a nice way to transition into a more intimate conversation as you get to know someone.
The thing is that we do have "Morning!", "Hello", "Hey", "Yo!", "Hi!".. and many other greetings that are not in the form of a question that actually leaves it open for the other person to respond with honesty and that is often also used as a conversation starter. If you really aren't open to a conversation, use one of the shorter friendly greetings.
If I say "how's it going?" and they answer with something I don't have time to hear... at most I would excuse myself and politelly say that I don't have too much time to talk.. but complaining about the other person actually answering truthfully makes no sense.
Of course it's just a comic, but still.. I don't think the one answering is in the wrong here.