The COVID “How Are You” Phenomenon
At RemedyLIVE, we work hard to fill every “how are you” with intention. You know how it goes, “how are you” eventually turns into just another way to say “hello”; you don’t really listen to the other person’s answer and feel awkward when they answer with anything other than “good, how are you?”. One thing that I’ve noticed with the recent pandemic is that suddenly, we are all taking that three worded question a little more seriously. You ask the cashier, nurse, or coworker how they’re holding up, and the answer actually comes with a bit of truth. Maybe that truth isn’t positive, but it is real and it opens the door to some enriching conversation and the possibility for a closer friend.
This pandemic has been a tragedy but it has also uniquely evened the playing field for our world. We are absolutely all in this together. We are all struggling and we are all learning to navigate this “new normal”.
I hope that we can keep asking and answering this question with the same amount of intention and honesty once this pandemic comes to a close. I hope that we can remember the time when we were able to share our struggles and truly mean it when we ask the grocery store cashier how he’s doing.
Written by Jamie Schueler
