Views About Correct Response To ‘Thank You’ Lead To Heated Debate Between Young & Old

Feb 09, 2022 by apost team

There are many ways to show appreciation after someone says “thank you.” Some common responses are “you’re welcome,” “no problem,” “of course” or “my pleasure.” With so many different ways to acknowledge someone’s gratitude, people are wondering what the correct response should be. A man on Twitter named Tom Nichols posted a tweet in 2015 that expressed frustration with cashiers who say “no problem” instead of “you’re welcome.”

One of the common explanations for this is that people from older generations prefer “you’re welcome” while younger people are more likely to use terms like “of course “ or “no problem.” From the tone of Nichol’s tweet, it seems that he feels not saying “you’re welcome” is impolite or improper. He added at the end of his post that cashiers are also supposed to thank the customer back. 

Not everyone who saw Nichol’s tweet agreed with his ideas. One person replied saying that there is nothing wrong with saying “no problem” and that it is simply a less formal response to “thank you.” To this commenter, what mattered is that the cashier was being friendly, while Nichols felt that the less formal response was rude. 

Part of the reasoning for associating “no problem” with younger folk and “you’re welcome” with older people is that multiple generations view the act of helping others differently. Another person pointed out that older generations see the act of assisting someone as a favor rather than an expectation. For millennials and other young people, helping someone else is actually “not a problem,” or at least that is what they want to express.

Read on to learn more about this discussion and why millennials and baby boomers are so different in this regard. 

There are many differences between generations and manners are definitely on the list. One place where we see this play out is in the service industry. Nichols specifically mentioned a cashier in his post. He tweeted: “Dear Every Cashier in America: the proper response to ‘thank you’ is ‘you're welcome,’ not ‘no problem.’ And you're supposed to thank me.”

Nichols’ statement triggered an interesting discussion about what the correct response should  be, and not everyone agreed with each other. Many people felt that terms like “no problem” are simply more casual rather than inappropriate. One person replied and said: “‘No Problem’ is a perfectly friendly response, although perhaps less formal & deferential than what you're seeking.”

Another person offered up an explanation as to why different generations have different viewpoints on this topic. They said, “This is because for older people the act of helping or assisting someone is seen as a task that is not expected of them but is them doing extra, so it's them saying, ‘I accept your thanks because I know I deserve it.’”

They continued, “‘No problem,’ however, is used because younger people feel not only that helping or assisting someone is a given and expected but also that it should be stressed that your need for help was no burden to them (even if it was).”

On Quora, the same topic was brought up and one commenter said, “People use a variety of replies for a variety of reasons. Some seem more polite or more accurate, some are simply just taught or learned through environment or family. There are many accepted or suggested responses to someone saying ‘Thank You.’ And all of them could be seen as smart or problematic.”

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How do you usually respond to someone’s thanks? Do you think saying “no problem” is rude? Let us know your thoughts and be sure to send this along to your friends and family.