Don't questions deserve (at least) a chance for an answer?

When did “What’s up?’ and “How are you?” become greetings rather than a questions?

When I see people in the hallways or as I pass on the street I no longer ask them how they doing. I stopped doing that a few years ago because when people asked me the same question, they would not stop to hear my answer, and when I asked them, sometimes their response was just to repeat the question back to me.

I am not trying to be impolite when I don’t ask how you are doing, I just like for that kind of interaction to be an actual interaction with a person. I like when someone cares enough to actually listen to my response rather than just keep walking by me when they ask me a question.

With the people that I am real cool with, or people who look like they need to get something off of their chests, I will take the time to ask them how they are doing. And if I am walking in the hall, I stop walking, turn and wait for them to tell me what’s up. I actually stop doing what I was doing, I actually look at them when they reply, I actually listen, I actually act like I care that I just asked a question that warrants a response.