Monday morning irritation, I suppose.  Here goes.

I consider myself a mostly polite, mostly pleasant person.  (Ok, quit snickering already.)  I was raised to smile and greet people with a "Hi. How are you?"  I also learned that unless you are close to the person posing the question, you should reply, "Fine, thanks. And you?"  Or "Ok" or "great" or some other meaningless pleasantry.  What gets on my nerves (and today it is one person in particular) is this - day after day, his response is *Siiiiiiiiggggghhhhh  "Fair".  Now, maybe he is only "Fair".  Maybe he is old and doesn't feel like being at work.  HOWEVER.  We are not close enough for me to inquire why he is just "Fair".  SO, in my estimation, he should say "Fine" and go on with his day. 

On the flip side (and I'm a Pisces and therefore get to flip-flop) maybe I shouldn't ask questions I don't really want to know the answer to.  ;)

What do you think?  Do you really tell someone how you "are" or do you just say "Fine" without thinking?  Or does it depend on who you are talking to?