"How are you" is not a rhetorical question

I have been working at the bank while I’m on Spring break. Every day I am amazed at the number of customers who stare blankly back at me or at their laps (I work the drive-thru) when I ask them how they’re doing. I can only think of two reasons why my customers seemingly ignore my inquiries as to how they are doing. 1.) "How are you" has become more of a greeting than a sincere question in our culture (I too am guilty of such a communication atrocity.) Walking the halls of the Humanities building I see friends and classmates, and If I had to estimate, I would say 5 out of ten will ask how I'm doing without so much as a backward glance as they pass by with break-neck speed. 2.) We have become so accustom to interacting with machines that we have lost our ability to communicate with humans. I fall prey to this too. My co-teller, Brandy, is talking to me about her husband's dishwashing, or the lack thereof. Instead of looking at her and giving affirming nods and noises, I stare at my computer screen, only half listening to her story. Where have my manners, or more importantly love for others, gone? I was talking to my friend Christian about this over coffee last week, venting because I felt invisible to the general public and sincerely pondering the decay of our culture. Sometimes Christian doesn't respond with as much enthusiasm to my not-so-profound sentiments as I would like. (Most of the time, it's because she's really thinking about it.) I was definitely feeling a lack of interest when all of a sudden she interjected a third option: 3.) We are not present where we are. We don't live in the moments of our lives because we are too busy thinking about our dry cleaning, research paper, grocery shopping, hot date on Friday night, and trip to the bank. I treat God like a drive-thru teller. I don't consider myself religious. Maybe I am. I think everyone has a different definition of what religious means, so whatever. What I'm saying is that I don't believe ritual or rule-compliance is what makes me acceptable to God. I follow Jesus and believe that he is what makes me acceptable to God. When Adam and Eve sinned, they lost relationship with God. Since that time, God has been at work bringing people back into relationship with himself. And that is what the whole Jesus dying on the cross thing is about. I have said all that to say that I have a relationship with God through Jesus, and like another relationship there must be communication. Christian, who I previously mentioned, is my best friend. She and I live four hours apart. If we didn't call and visit each other, I don't think we have a very much of a friendship. God is not like Christian, in that is perfect, all knowing, unlimited by time and space, and ever-present. He is a being that is above and unlike humans. But he is a being whom I am in relationship with all the same. Therefore to know him and have a healthy relationship with him, I must spend time with Him. I do that in the morning most days. I am a morning person, and I figure giving God the first moments of my day is the least I can considering He is God and all. On mornings I wake up late, have an insane geology mid-term where I have to find the gradient and velocity of a stream, the time I spend with God is a lot like when my customers come through the drive-thru without ever looking up from their checkbooks because they are thinking about picking up the oldest from soccer practice and the youngest from daycare. Other mornings, when I am not thinking about all that I have to do that day, the time I spend with God is a lot like having coffee with Christian when neither one of us has a place to be or errands to run. I may be able to apply communication theories and experiences from my earthly relationships to mine with God, but there is a crucial difference. God does not withhold love from me when I'm cranky or give me the silent treatment because I'm late for dinner. This sacred relationship is the only place where I am accepted without proviso.