Walking and Typing, But going Nowhere

I WAS WALKING ON THE TREADMILL at the senior center, which I do daily to pad my cardiovascular exercise minute totals. I am careful not to break a sweat, just before lunch. People often come through the backroom where the treadmill is. If they speak to me, I respond. If they do not, I trudge on in silence. The cute little ninety year old couple came through, looking for something. She said "hello", I responded. He didn't speak. He never does, because he doesn't like me. He used to like me so much that he sent me twenty dollar bills at Christmas to firm up our friendship. Then, one fateful afternoon, I made an unpleasant comment about evangelical Christians who support Donald Trump, and he turned on me.... They found what they were looking for, while I kept walking nowhere, and on their way out she spoke again, saying: "errands". Since the date happened to be July 11, I responded by saying: "Today is the day when the former president should have been sentenced to prison". Clearly she didnt expect me to say that, because she kept interrupting me with the word "yes" several times during my sentence, which I somehow managed to complete. She managed to glean my meaning, and said: "Oh? they postponed that again?" I just said "yes". I decided not to tell her that they (the judge) had only postponed it once, but that that was more than enough. Confusion happens when we say things that people do not expect to hear. As a new online friend of mine explained, we navigate social situations by relying on words and expressions to which we are accustomed. When strangers message me on Facebook, as they do all the time for some reason, they always start with "hello", and I respond with "howdy". Sometimes they ask me where I live, which they do by saying "your location?". They ask where I work, what I do for a living. When I say "nothing" (I am retired), the confusion runs rampant. They worry about my survival. They ask whether I am single or married, or have kids. If we make it past all that, they usually say "what's up?", or, "what are you doing?". To avoid excessive typing, I always respond with the single word "little", which, I have come to realize, confuses people. "Little what?", is the usual confused response. When I say "very little", a phrase to which people are accustomed, there is no confusion. The fact that I think people should be able to make the leap from "little" to "very little" is irrelevant. My expectations go unfulfilled. People will do, say, and understand what they will and will not, and my attitude towards it matters not a fig. Navigating social situations, as my new internet friend pointed out,is what its all about. The thought occurs to me that perhaps we are doing our navigating in kayaks, using dead reckoning. I am not cooperating. I keep typng in the one word "little",leaving out the word "very", almost as if I am looking for trouble, or trying to inspire confusion so that I can measure it and write essays about it. My aversion to typing is a problem. Maybe I should type in a nice, long, newsy paragraph detailing my recent and current activities, but the fact that I am talking to a stranger and have little, oops, very little interest in the conversation holds me back. I never message anybody, and I dont use the internet to meet people. I prefer doing that in person, in the town where I live, strangely. I respond to all messages out of courtesy, and because I am always aware of the potential for me to learn something, to meet someone who will improve my life. It sometimes pays off. But when they ask me "how" I am doing, and I type in the word "well", and they start asking.."well,what?', I feel the same confusion and frustration, all over again. Maybe I should just say "good". People seem to understand that.