So... When are you finishing your PhD?

So one day, as you're laboriously making your way to the campus after barely 4 hours of sleep, you bump into an old friend in the subway:
-How are you doing?
-Waw, it's been such a long while! What are you up to?
-Oh, do you know Timmy and I just moved into our new house?
-Really, waw!!
-How about you?...
- Oh, you know, I'm still working on my PhD.
- Still? When are you finishing?
(Oh no, you didn't!!)

That's when everything turns still.
I mean, it feels like someone just pressed the PAUSE button, for God's sake. When am I finishing? What d'you mean, when am I finishing? I mean, I just want to grab the person's shoulders and shake the hell out of her!
Doesn't she know it's JUST NOT THAT SIMPLE. You don't just take courses, pass qualifying exams, write your dissertation, defend it and GRADUATE!
No, no, no.
But then you remember your good manners, and that in the real world -- off campus -- you need to smile and greet people and actually behave as if life were simple. So I smile, and respond, with the flashiest grin I can muster:
- Oh, I just got a couple more stuff to get through and I should be finishing when it all gets done.
That's when I quickly divert the topic to the weather -- thank God for the horrendous winter --, wasn't it terrible, all this snow?