On “not much” as the response to “what’s new?”

God, isn’t it the worst?

But, in an uninspired moment, that was me this past Sunday.

It’s the conversational equivalent of someone handing you a beverage and just pouring it on the ground. They’ll wonder, Why did I even bother?

It helps to remember that having someone to even ask you the question is a gift.

It’s not, after all, the anodyne “How are you?” or “How’s it going?”

Those questions are pleasantries—you could choose to respond with the latest family drama, but your questioner might be looking for no more than “Good, and you?”

“What’s up?” and its question-cousins are more like invitations. They offer up an ear to you—to offer nothing in return feels like a faux pas.

It bears thinking, I’ve learned, to ask the question of myself—before someone else does, to be at least a little prepared for that conversational hospitality.

Anything is better than “not much.”