Questions you dislike

Do you have any questions that you dislike being asked on a daily basis? At my workplace, customer service, I have lots of customers coming and going. The "generic" question that gets asked all the time is, "how are you?" Now, at first this didn't bug me at all, but over the past four years now, it's become something that irks me a little. It's not as annoying as it once was, but it still can rub me the wrong way. The reasoning is because it's not genuine, as far as I can tell. I'm basing this off of two factors: 1) The nature of the environment I find myself in. And 2) It's the most common question people will throw at a stranger. Some folks may be asking me this genuinely, but I'd rather them not. I don't ask the question to anyone except for friends. If a customer comes in, I'll just say hello and then go straight to my sales speech.

Where are you from? Or it's equally terrible cousin -- What nationality are you?

Rarely do people mean that. What do they really want to know? Your cultural/ethnic background. Your roots, essentially.

It's a poorly worded question used by people that utilize language poorly.

I hate all small talk questions in general when going to the dentist or getting a haircut.

I would rather people be blunt and direct, even if it comes across as rude rather than initiating small talk. Nothing wrong with silence.

At work its: Why are you so sexy ?

In personal life its: Why are you so dam sexy ?

It can be hard being so beautiful....

@warmblur: Yeah, instead of small talk I wish people would ask profound questions, like : Is there a God? Do you think the universe is really infinite ? The signifigance of the number Pi . Political power structures in central Europe. Is there such a think as free will? If a cat farts but no one is around to hear it; does it make a sound ?

The question "Is masturbation a sin?"

It's a valid question, but rather annoying.

I used to dislike some questions like "what do you do?" or "how's your mother's dog?" or "does this mumu make me look too hippy?" but now I just make up random answers. Life has gotten more interesting.

I don't mind questions, but I think if the intent is solely for small talk, I'd rather we just exist in silence lol.

I mean I'm not a jerk; when I ask someone how they're doing, how was their day, etc. I genuinely want to know they are doing OK and if they have an interesting response I will strike up a conversation, but if all I get is a "good" or "Pretty boring", I'll leave it at that.

What is a good way to ask that question? Sometimes it is nice to talk about one's culture, and having a curiosity about someone else's is not a bad thing.

I recently started working with someone from Egypt and I was like "Hey man, do you mind if I ask where you are from?" and he was like "Not at all, I come from Egypt but I've been in the US since I was 16" and he just went on to talk about Egypt for 20 minutes while I asked him questions about it.

I think it was a pretty neat conversation and the guy seemed to really enjoy talking about it, but I'm curious if I committed a faux pas.

I'm aware it can be perceived as a touchy subject in certain contexts, but I think it is a pretty harmless question on its own. It's not like I'm going around asking every non-white person "where are you from?" but if I am in close proximity to someone for a while and they're clearly from elsewhere, I think it's OK to ask, right?

I prefer being asked where I am from instead of people assuming it.

I have had very weird interactions with people. I have a very middle of the road skin color for a human and my English is neutral enough for people to not have an immediate guideline.

So, people assume a lot! and generally with a suspicious face...

Are you Indian? Are you Arabic? Are you central Asian? Are you northern Africa? Are you from southern Europe? Are you latin American (this one correct, but they could just ask, and also they tend to miss the country anyway..)

I have even got weird ones like Russian or (random country from south Saharan) Africa even though I look nothing like either.

Anyway, i much prefer people asking .

Except when the question Comes with the assumption like:

I thought you Mexicans like to eat spicy? But you Arabs can have many wives right? How is bull fighting live?

Or in east Asia, if you don't look asian or black people just assume you are American, so you get a lot of stupid gun questions， like how many guns do you own ? How many times have you shot someone/been shot?

I don't really like having to answer profile questions in apps or anything like that.

Yes, you're absolutely cleared to ask that in that situation.

This is the sort of scenario I am referring to: A guy, attempting to make small talk and to get to know a co-worker or classmate, asks;

The Guy "Hey, so where are you from?"

Co-worker/classmate "I'm from Charleston, but grew up in Atlanta."

The Guy "Oh that's cool. Sorry, I meant what is your nationality?"

Co-worker/classmate "I'm American, I was born in Charleston."

And...it continues until the guy finally asks, his co-worker/classmate a more specific question such as what's your cultural background, or where is your family from.

My point, is the intent of the question is not bad -- just the mechanics of it. People don't use the words they mean to get the result they want.

@shellcase86: lol that reminds me of this scene in Parks and Rec (it's at about the 20-second mark)

She thinks he is from Libya or whatever and he's like "Nope. Southern US"

Man I miss this show.

Whenever I go into Anime community boards:

I'm a Sinner😎

"What's your name?"

lol hilarious!

Shiiiiiiiiiiit, man, I'm the damn devil. 😈

You can relax. In my opinion, masturbating is not a sin. The Bible says that things like adultery and fornication are sinful, but masturbation is nowhere categorized as being sinful.

Oh i have a few:

-Are you sure?

If i wasn't i wouldn't have said it with confidence.

Where are you from?

I don't see why does it matter.

1) I don't like being asked questions that the person only wants one answer for.

Like a good ol' Dad question: "could you come over and mow the lawn for me this weekend?" When I reality he would only wants me to say yes or else he throws a fit. Just order me to do shit if that's what it comes down to.

2) I am repulsive towards questions that expect dishonest answers, like the good ol' "does this dress make me look fat?" Question.

I don't take questions that only slide if I'm pressured to be dishonest. Don't ask people intimate questions like that when you only accept dishonest answers.

3) When I'm in a position of authority (a professional setting usually) and the good ol' repeat question expecting a different response.

It happens when I tell a client I can or cannot do certain things because I don't have the keys or authorizations to do such requests, but I try to point them to the right person to help them, and they just go "...so can you?"

Did I just fucking stutter? Do I not speak English for your basic mind to not understand?

Was she like that when you found her.

What I really hate are the answers, usually.

Why don't you like football? because I f*cking don't.