I cringe when I hear, “No problem!” in response to me saying “Thank you.” Actually, there is a problem and the problem is responding with “No problem.” When you say, “Thank you,” the only response from me should be, “You are welcome” or “My pleasure.”
Sadly, even the days of “No problem” are fading, giving way to the latest trend of “Yup” or in more formal, black-tie, high-end, expensive-shoe-wearing champagne settings, “Yep.”
NOPE.
I’m not sure exactly how we’ve landed in this abyss. Is it that we’ve all become so comfortable in the world of texting that any sentence longer than one word is simply exhausting? When I am standing in a store or sitting at a restaurant literally giving my money away, is it too much to ask for a pleasant and appropriate response? Do I sound like I am ranting and raving?
YUP.
I’ll stop now. Really. It’s just that I was recently standing at the checkout counter at a large clothing chain and after shelling out seventy-something bucks on some poorly made items for my 20-something daughter, I said “Thank you.” No response. I said, again, “Thank you,” and the bored-looking girl behind the counter finally managed a “Yup.” So there I was holding a bag of overpriced clothes and not even a, “You’re welcome.” I felt – hmmmm – what’s the word? Angry.
Those who know me know that I am not an angry person. In fact, I am generous with the whole “benefit of the doubt” thing. A bad day, a headache, a dead goldfish, a nasty squabble, a parking ticket- these can all lead to a lackadaisical approach to decent manners. But I had this vision of an employee training seminar where all new recruits were asked to stand up and give their best “YUP” to some tired manager. Is that what’s happening? Are we teaching the next generation to be, for lack of a better phrase, rude?
Ok, now I will really stop. Let me just end with this: THANK YOU for reading this blog, and you are welcome to share it with any and all that may have forgotten the fine art of small talk.
