Sacred Heart Convent School taught me that the accepted response when someone thanks you is to smile sweetly and say, “You’re welcome!” Judging by what I hear around me, I was taught wrong. The accepted response is, apparently, either “uh-huh” or “No problem!” Notice, both responses clearly imply that you are not welcome to ask the other person for another favour!
I’m guilty of this “No Problem” response too. It’s only recently that I realized I’ve picked up this habit and I’m now trying hard to lose it.
I guess politeness is built into the infrastructure of conversation and we don’t really think about saying “please” and “thank you” any more than we think about using the indicator when we turn. But I’ve been thinking that maybe it’s a good thing to use thank you’s a little more sparingly and be nicer to someone who thanks us than just dismiss the whole thing with a “no problem”. What do you think?
