This is a great point. Funny story, as a foreigner who was not used to the culture, this used to be a stressful situation for me.

I am Chinese and when I first moved to the US, I often felt caught off guard with everyone I encounter asking me how am I doing, cause I treated the question seriously. For the first few weeks, I had to prepare myself with an answer before I go outside the door every time : ) A few weeks later I got used to it and started asking others I encounter the same question. That's when I realized that, no, they don't really want to know how am I doing or how was my day, they are just being polite.

So I guess the point of my story is, not only be a little vulnerable when you answer the question, be a little more sincere when you ask it too.