Nothing but Talk

It is certaininly out of the ordinary for a caller to identify him/herself especially when calling a friend due to the take-for-grantedness that everyone on earth owns a handphone that is accompanied by a caller-id.
I called a good friend of mine to and I wanted to find out what she was up to this afternoon. Our Wednesdays phone conversations are some what predictable.

Caller (could be either person): Hello, what you doing?
Receiver ( could be either person as well) : Nothing much ( Actually this reply is pretty much redundant, cos it doesnt quite serve any impact)
And the ultimate key question of the conversation goes "wanna play mahjong/ wanna go out?"
Following this would be the time arrangement. A short and sweet conversation, dont you think?
But then again, it really depends on the relationship between the two conversationalists and how exactly they are bonded. Surely there'll be more formality if youre conversing with an elderly such as your grandparents or an authoritative figure like your boss. I know it because when it's my grandma on the line, I'd first have to identify myself. For one it's because she has 17 grandchildren and to top that I doubt she knows how to use her handphone beyond the functions of answering/rejecting calls. In other words, she doesnt hold a caller ID. Then out of concern and due respect, I'll ask if she has already eaten. These are things that I tend not to ask if it's my friends on the line. I guess it has become so natural as to be able to separate the notion of casualness and respect with regards to whom we're speaking to.