I thought the very first question was usually "How are you doing?" or a variation thereon. Most Americans I've met will ask that before they ask a person's name. Which is good, it's an important question. Certainly more important than what you do for a living.

Actually I think asking any question at all is more about showing an interest in somebody. Which is a good thing. When I was travelling around the states a few years ago I found that in most places the first question after "how are you doing?" was to ask where I was from. Maybe that was prompted by my accent. Usually when I answered I'd be asked for a more specific location, but I remember in Wichita one teenager asked where I was from and when I told him he just nodded in a satisfied way and said "I *knew* you were from out of town!"