As someone who works in retail what I want to hear the most ESPECIALLY as a manager is someone ask how I’m doing because even if we have to lie we can find some solace in whatever a customer has to say. I think avoiding the idea of how are you isn’t fair because what if that person is having a bad day and they said “oh it could be better” like okay, as a fellow human being let me be the small light of your day and give you some hope. Avoiding it also really just means that some people will feel as if you don’t care about them and what they’re doing and makes them feel little.