Yup, this kinda confused me too, but I got used to it and I started doing it too. Now I only say "hi", because I think it's disingenuous to ask someone "how the

Yup, this kinda confused me too, but I got used to it and I started doing it too. Now I only say "hi", because I think it's disingenuous to ask someone "how they're doing" when in reality I don't really care. So if I do ask someone "how they're doing" it's a genuine question.