There is a guy at work who, everytime he passes you hurrying to yet another important meeting, says "Howareya". You could quite easily respond with "Well, my wife just topped herself, my sister's got ovarian cancer and my testicles have shrunk to the size of raisins" and he wouldn't be around to hear the answer anyway. If you ask a question, at least have the grace to stick around .
And as for Jim Hickey saying "Hi everyone, howareya?" whenever he appears on our screens, well the guy gets Twittier every time he asks it.