American small talk

It also depends on what part of the USA you are in. But yes, we as a country love to talk just for the sake of talking. Since most of the rest of the world jokes about how easy it is to spot Americans in other countries as we are loud and overtly friendly.

So yes the "Hi, how are you?" is a pretty ingrained greeting. With regional variations for no real reason at all. Just something we consider as being polite.

I'm not that old and have used "Can't complain" as a response to the how are you doing question. Just depends on how the day is going and who is asking the question. If its been a bad day I might say "I've had better" or "It could be better".

I also always make a complement about some one's tattoos if they are visible or if they have dyed their hair. Like today, I told a little boy I liked his Mohawk for no reason, but you could clearly see he was happy someone else thought it was cool.

 

The whole 'hey how are you/how you doing?' thing is very common in the U.S., with strangers, with cashiers at stores etc.

It's pretty usual, like at the local convenience store in the morning for strangers to greet each other in this way as we make our coffee. Another big small talk thing in the U.S. is the weather, 'wow it's cold outside/well...they say a big snowstorm is on the way...' that sort of stuff. It would be considered weird and rude if someone doesn't respond.

Strangers have also commented to me if they like a piece of clothing I am wearing- something like, 'cute jacket where did you find that?' and I have done the same. That kind of stuff is also generally acceptable as far as American small talk 'rules'.

As far talk with strangers goes, anything beyond the above sort of comments would be seen as too much...at least as far as American small talk rules go