i'm breaking through, i'm bending spoons

a newer engineer at my office is jesus from venezuela. jesus is super friendly but his english is lacking a bit. so, coupling his friendliness with his (I imagine) desire to practice english he takes every opportunity to practice with me. he'll tap me on the shoulder and enthusiastically ask "how are you doing?" to which I reply "fine. how are you?" or some similar variation. this is where it gets tricky, because he always replies, "good. and you?"

as you can see, this conversation could cycle infinitely. usually, I just reply with a final "good," smile, and leave it at that. but I love our little exchanges: mundane polite banter freshened by a little humor and cultural misunderstanding. and it's a constant thing; guaranteed to happen. I think the day when he responds correctly we'll have lost a little something, though he won't even know it.