Hello, how are you?

"Hello, how are you?" is perhaps one of the most worn-out English greeting apart from the curt "hello" or "hi!" Ironically, the monosyllabic greeting "hi" or "hello", though terse-sounding on paper, is actually reserved for friends.  Usually followed by a quick hug or a peck on the cheek.

The phrase "Hello, how are you?" is more formal. It's what salespersons use to greet a potential client; It's what teachers use to welcome students to their class; the boss addressing his secretary. It's what you read in books when the heroines were still in their petticoats, girdles and those cute umbrellas with tassels in their gloved hands.

Nevertheless, the greeting "Hello, how are you?" is usually accompanied with a smile. It doesn't take much, however, since the first syllable of the word "hello" requires you to expand your lips into a near smile as you cluck your tongue on your palate and snapping it free as you roll the second syllable around your mouth.  Hopefully, your grin lasts until you reach the last syllable "you."

"Hello, how are you?"

That's what 23-year old Cho Seung-Hui asked in one of the classrooms of Virginia Tech university. That's what he asked before pointing his handgun on the head of the professor conducting the class and squeezing the trigger. He then turned towards the 15 stunned students and emptied his magazines.

Satisfied that he killed all of them, Cho calmly walked out the door. One of the survivors of the first volley of shots later recalled hearing more gunshots ringing from the next room but not before he heard Cho asked the class, its tenor and nuance muted by the thick walls that insulated the other students from the bloodbath that had just occurred.

"Hello, how are you?"

When the smoke cleared, 32 people lay dead. He then pointed the gun on himself and fired.

What's striking is the formal way he posed the question.  Cho lived in the United States since he was eight years old so 15 years should be enough for him to soak up Western culture. Psychological profilers would have a heyday analyzing his thoughts and motives. Would they perhaps have a better grasp of his mindset the day he went on a killing spree had he shouted invectives in street slang?

Did he snap? But surely a person who's out of his mind wouldn't ask how his would-be victims were doing, would he?
 
If it was a hate crime, his emotion would have been palpable.His rage would have filtered through the barrel of his gun even before his bullets assailed limbs or craniums. His steps, rendered heavy by the seething storm underneath, would have sent off an ominous sensation.    

This was different. Students and teachers who knew him claim that he preferred to be by himself rather than socialize.His classmates said he just watched and listened during classes. He was reclusive, very quiet and a loner.

They were wrong. A loner wouldn't have barged into the rooms and take it upon himself to carry out Hades' job description. A loner would just kill himself. Perhaps the best proof that he was lonely in life could be gleaned in the manner of his death — he didn't want to die alone.

I wonder how many students and teachers reached out to Cho and asked him "Hello, how are you?"

Perhaps they would have gotten the silent treatment. And perhaps they would have gotten a reply, devoid of any formality and pretense. From one human being to another.

"No, I'm not. Help me please."