Does anyone really want to know how you are when they ask "How are you?"?

Normally I assume that the answer to this is "No!" and I don't bother going into any detail beyond "Great!" or "Happy now that the sun is out."

But today my pharmacist asked "How have you been?" when I was picking up a prescription. If anyone on the planet really wants to know the answer, I figure it would be him, so I tested that idea. I told him I had a really bad cold last week, but I'm better now. He said "Oh, that's too bad." I told him it had been a year since I've had a cold and I had a hard time remembering which cold symptom relievers worked for me last year. A pharmacist sells these cold symptom relievers, and probably makes a lot of money from them. He could have had something useful to say. He didn't. I think this is odd.

And no, I don't ask people "How are you?" as a general rule myself. It's a question that makes people very uncomfortable. They may not be well, and don't want to think about it. They may think I'm not being genuine and don't really want to know. Or they may tell me their life's story. Any result makes the question a bad one to ask.

And even more frightening is someone who asks and really wants the 2 hour answer!

The answer to "How are you?" is definitely NOT 42, so I'll leave this question unasked.