The expression is sarcastic. In a setting such as my old job where everyone was miserable but slogged through the day it was used to create camaraderie.

My current day job is a place where a majority of the people I meet like their jobs and the company. One fellow always gives this response when I ask how he’s doing. He was acquired during a recent merger.

I’m not sure if he knows how damaging these words are to the way people perceive him and the dark cloud of misery over his head that rarely goes away. At least once he’s said, “As disorganized as it was, I would prefer to be back at _____ any day than here.”

And he wonders why no one introduces him…