I don't, I rely an ready made sentences that require no effort on my part are that are not lies at all. Depending who's asking when someone is asking me how well I'm I will answer (it's in French)
- 'Je vais bien, pas le choix!' (I'm doing well, no choice!) or more often 'Je vais toujours bien, c'est défendu d'aller mal!' (I'm always well, It's forbidden to feel bad!'). Edit I will more often than not smile, saying that.
- 'Bien sur et toi?' (sure, and you?) and, yep, I purposefully do not answer the question.
I don't lie (I may even hint that I may not be doing that well, in the first type of answers) but I also shamelessly use the fact that most people don't give the slightest crap how well I really am when they're asking. That's small-talk 101. Like saying 'the weather is nice today, isn't it?'
The less interactions I have with the kind of persons who rely on small-talk, the happier I'm. So, it never bothers me to be 'polite' as I know how efficient it is to shorten the time and energy I waste with them.
Indeed. That's kind of what Tuta, Proton and others are trying to do alas without worrying much about being compatible with one another.