\n<\/p>\n
I\u2019d like to add one more answer to the \u201cHow are you?\u201d question (Letters, 26 December). A very elderly neighbour, who died several years ago, always gave what became known as the Elton\u00a0John response: \u201cI\u2019m still standing!\u201d I use it myself now and\u00a0remember him each time I do. What a lot of misery guts writing to your letters page. Following a spell in intensive care this October with an infection that I\u2019m starting to see was much more dangerous than I realised at the time, my answer to \u201cHow are you?\u201d is \u201cBetter every day.\u201d And \u2013 many thanks to the NHS \u2013 long may it stay that way. My father used to answer: \u201cHere\u2019s to you \/ As good as you are \/ And here\u2019s to me \/ As bad as I am \/ But as bad as I am \/ And as good as you are \/ I\u2019m as good as you are \/ Bad as I am.\u201d These days, many people eschew the traditional \u201cHow are you?\u201d in favour \u201cAll right?\u201d I\u2019m never really sure how to answer this question. What to say if I\u2019m \u201call wrong\u201d? In this part of the north-east of England, the more likely greeting is \u201cY\u2019OK?\u201d or \u201cY\u2019all reet?\u201d \u2013 seemingly a more profound inquiry into the human condition. But by the time you nod and smile, they have moved on with a cheery \u201cSee you later\u201d \u2013 a time frame which apparently includes everything from shortly to probably never. \u201cHow are you?\u201d isn\u2019t such a brief\u00a0question. In Lancashire it\u2019s\u00a0just \u201c\u2019Ow do?\u201d My grandmother, when someone\u00a0asked how she was, would say: \u201cI\u2019m walking around to\u00a0save funeral expenses.\u201d At 83 years of age, I\u2019m\u00a0tempted to say the\u00a0same now and again. A friend replies to \u201cHow are you?\u2019 with \u201cStill warm to the touch.\u201d I invariably reply \u201cish\u201d and people always know what I mean. Have an opinion on anything you\u2019ve read in the Guardian today? Please <\/em><\/strong>email<\/em><\/strong> us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our <\/em><\/strong>letters<\/em><\/strong> section.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019d like to add one more answer to the \u201cHow are you?\u201d question (Letters, 26 December). A very elderly neighbour, who died several years ago, always gave what became known as the Elton\u00a0John response: \u201cI\u2019m still standing!\u201d I use it myself now and\u00a0remember him each time I do.David DuellDurham What a lot of misery guts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[4244,21659,357,6755,20912],"class_list":{"0":"post-40201","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-friendship","9":"tag-greeting","10":"tag-inquiry","11":"tag-passing","12":"tag-profound"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
David Duell<\/strong>
Durham<\/em><\/p>\n
Charles Harris<\/strong>
London<\/em><\/p>\n
Ian Winstanley<\/strong>
Ashton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester<\/em><\/p>\n
Barbara Riddell<\/strong>
Epsom, Surrey<\/em><\/p>\n
Peter Lowe<\/strong>
Newcastle upon Tyne<\/em><\/p>\n
Carol Haines<\/strong>
Yealmpton, Plymouth<\/em><\/p>\n
Lesley Millard<\/strong>
Bishop\u2019s Waltham, Hampshire<\/em><\/p>\n
Rt Rev John Saxbee<\/strong>
Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire<\/em><\/p>\n
Maureen Cavanagh<\/strong>
Kingsley, Cheshire<\/em><\/p>\n