2y ago

Americans are explaining why they don't say 'you're welcome' in customer service settings after foreigners complained that 'mmhmm' comes off as rude

www.insider.com

I was watching a video from two years ago about different social norms and this showed up. Found someone questioning the same eight years ago on reddit (when it seemed less normalized). It feels so weird not being aware of this shift, even as a foreigner.

38 comments

In pretty much every situation I've ever been told thank you, I've felt that "No Problem" is a much better representation of how I feel than "You're Welcome".
- I agree 100%. "You're welcome" is the phrase that everyone knows to be the direct response to a "thank you", so using it implies the necessity of a prerequisite thanks. So really it's just a polite way of saying "yeah you better be thankful."
  Whereas "no problem" seems to be a fairly sincere way to say "no thanks are needed, I'm helping because I want to."
  
  So really it’s just a polite way of saying “yeah you better be thankful.”
  lol that escalated quickly
  When I hear "you're welcome" the only thing I think of is that I'm welcome
  
  "No problem" always makes me think that a problem was expected, or that even there might be problems soon!
  "You're welcome" to me sounds like a natural, polite acknowledgement that I've appreciated what they have just done. It feels like it would be weird for someone to pretend they haven't just brought me food or whatever.
- No wuckas!
  
  Or to translate for the non-Australians.
  No fucking worries.
ive worked customer service for a few years now and I don't really ever say "you're welcome." I dunno why but I just say "have a nice day/evening/night"
- I'd find this as nice/polite as a customer 😊
- My typical response was always to well-wish. "Take care" "Have a nice evening" "Happy Friday" Whatever.
- I'm exactly the same. I also used to use a generic "have a good one" because I didn't know what time it was during my evening shift. I did have a person make a minor scene once, saying he hated when people said that because he didn't know what "one" was in reference to, though.
- My time in retail has stuck me with the response "Oh no, Thank you.".
I feel out of the loop. Not sure if it's me just getting old or not understanding social nuances, but this all feels like people drawing lines and taking sides on something that's going to vary based on cultural background, age of peers, personal experiences and idiosyncrasies, etc. I don't feel like it's a good situation to have two (or more) sides each claiming that it's offensive to them if someone who doesn't know them responds using a different side's preferred response. Kinda puts customer service workers in an impossible situation.
I reflexively say "thanks" when another human does something for me, and I don't particularly care what their habituated response is. Especially for people working customer service, who are just getting through their day and running their script. Mostly people echo the response that they're used to hearing from others, so unless I have some reason to think they're being snarky...??? Your noncommittal phrase of thanks received a noncommittal response, and both parties can move on from the exchange and do something else with their time and energy.
- This is every bit a "kids these days" article. You hit it on the nose--it's a generational shift and older people are clutching at pearls. For funsies, there's a piece of ancient Roman writing I came across when studying classics (I'm sorry that I don't recall who it was) that said essentially "young people don't speak Latin right". This is basically a thing as old as time.
Interesting. I'll have to find some of these videos. I worked customer service in the early 2000s. We were trained to never let a customer be in a situation where they would need to say "thank you," and that we should thank them. This was in Canada, by the way. If we did get a thanks, we would never say, "you're welcome." We would say something like, "don't worry about it."
In France, where I live now, in some of the situations mentioned in the article the response would be a simple "c'est moi," meaning, "it's me who thanks you." In a restaurant setting the waiter might just answer with "bon appétit."
Thanks for this share, because I teach international business and communication and this will be an excellent subject for discussion.
- We have our "c'est moi" in Brazil as well: "eu que agradeço". Honestly, mmhmm is what seems alien to me.
  
  Honestly, mmhmm is what seems alien to me.
  It sounds absurdly rude if not sarcastic to me, I think I'd rather even a sarcastic "you're welcome" than that because at least it sounds like the person acknowledged your gratitude. Really, if you're gonna use "mmhmm" you might as well just stay silent.
- “c’est moi,” meaning, “it’s me who thanks you.”
  Ah so that's what that means. I thought I was mishearing. That's pretty close to what I was brought up with, "it's my pleasure" (meaning it's me who is pleased to be helping).
  The informal/vernacular in my country (NZ) is "sweet as" which puzzles most visitors, or sometimes "it's all good".
  
  I like an "it's all good," that would put a smile on my face.
  
  so that's what that means
  I was a little lost too for the first few weeks I lived in France. Equally, when they said things like "il (n')y a pas de quoi" which I had to figure out on my own. I finally just straight up had to ask someone after asking for a lighter and thanking them.
- We say "don't think about it" in the Nordics, but also "a thousand thanks". Wat do?
  
  We also say "don't worry about it" in the US, which seems pretty much the same.
Depending on context I tend to respond with:
No problem (they seem to think it will in fact be a problem like if someone at work asks for help on something nobody wants to do)
All good (they're exasperated after the fact and worried I might be too and am judging them)
Any time (some simple thing they're just saying thanks out of habit)
Of course (usually said in a softer tone, empathetic/reassuring response to let them know I'm here for them)
Yep (fuck you don't ask me for anything again)
- I quite like
  no worries
  
  Almost every time I say it, it means "Actually nothing but worries, but it's socially unacceptable to talk about our declining mental health and I have shit I need to get back to in order to distract myself from this hell that was created to squeeze maximum productivity out of me with minimum investment in life support, so I'm going to end this exchange by pretending everything's okay."
- Yeah like they all mean something and mmhmm is just the Yep variant nothing else
I was a bit offended by tourists doing that mmhmm thing until I found out that it's considered polite in the US.
I was interpreting it as "yes I know you are thankful to me, and so you should be! By the way, I'm an oaf."
@elfpie Somewhat tangential, but this sort of thing is why I almost categorically disregard any review that primarily complains about how "rude" staff was. More often than not this seems to translate to "acted in a way not exactly in line with my cultural and generational norms" or "didn't give me exactly what I wanted." Give the underpaid service workers some slack.
- A friend of mine worked at McDonald's for a while. The amount of people who take that as license to treat retail workers like shit is quite unbelievable. And indeed: When customers hurl racial or homophobic slurs the manager basically says the customer is king.
  I always wondered why they have such high turnover?!? /s
This is the most non-issue article I've seen in a long time. We're apparently seeing a language shift between generations and the argument really comes down to "kids these days". If retailers thought this was important, they'd set a policy on it.
- I found it really interesting. As a Canadian, I always found it jarring getting an "mmhmm" in response to my "thank you".
  Canadians are generally so conditioned to be polite that we both say sorry after stepping on someone else's foot: the person being stepped on saying sorry for getting in the way, naturally!
  Saying "you're welcome" to a "thank you" is as automatic as a "you too!" after an "I hope you have a good day!"
  Hearing that Americans consider "thank you" rude made me rethink my cultural biases. I literally just thought Americans didn't value politeness as much, but now I'm questioning that prejudice.
  
  I wonder if this is also a regional thing. I can’t recall having someone respond with an mmhmm. Perhaps it’s pretty pervasive in other places.
Huh, I didn't even know this as someone born and raised in the US. I do say "no problem" or "no worries" a lot more than "you're welcome" these days, but I do tend to use the latter in more formal situations. I do think an "mmhmm" might strike me as cold or condescending. Then again, I've been out of the country for the better part of a decade now.
I mean I don't really cater my responses to other people's expectations. It seems a bit silly anticipating a reaction to such a simple exchange.
Everyone seems to be glossing over the mmhmm part of this post. That's the weirdest thing.
I do love a good "You're welcome"
But I only ever do it like if I hold a door open for someone then they walk through without acknowledging me. "You're welcome! ... cunt". But Americans largely don't get sarcasm.
That's interesting, as a British English speaker "your welcome" to my ear sounds quite American - that may be just me. I'd be more likely to say "no problem", "no worries", or "don't worry about it".

38 comments