F-I-N-E, Fine

When someone asks how you're doing, you usually answer "fine", right?

I am often not fine, but it's easier to say so than to get into why things aren't just wonderful for the millionth day in a row. Although I never ask if I don't really want to know, I am aware that many others ask how one is doing as a matter of courtesy and expect a quick, polite answer in return.

A few years ago (OK, more than a decade), a friend I'll call Aunt Mayfaire (because that's what I called him back then)(yes, him)(he was perhaps the funniest drag queen I've ever known)(which would be of three, total) taught me one of the most useful tools I've ever had for answering the question "So how are you today?".

It's the dysfunctional definition of fine. Fucked-up, Insecure, Neurotic and Erratic. F-I-N-E, fine. Heh.

So now I can answer honestly, whether I'm having a good day or not, and so can you. Those of us in the know might even ask if you're "fine" or F-I-N-E, fine".