asking someone how they're doing or how have you been is a thoughtful caring and polite thing to do but be careful about what you ask for if their reply is something like not to well I been going through a lot lately my head hurt my a** hurt my life is a mess the best thing you can do for you is to say sorry to hear that things aren't going well for you and I hope they get better soon the worse thing you can do for you is to say oh no what's wrong? here's what's wrong with that reply they are going to tell you everything that's going wrong in their life relationship matters family matters everything that's going wrong as if nothings going right the more tea you sip the more they'll pour and once you had your fill they go about their business feeling a little lighter check your temperature I bet it's no longer normal check your blood pressure I bet it's no longer normal you start feeling like you're coming down with something you wonder what's wrong with you? some heavy stuff been laid on you stuff you not commissioned equipped capable nor licensed to deal with stuff you can't cope with you think maybe it's something you ate you start to envision every thing that was on that plate it could be something you ate or perhaps it's something you consumed