I said, “Thank you” to a server.
Response, “No problem.”
Full stop, system crash, Reboot.
By the time I got back up, she was gone. No further communication. Not much tip, either.
When someone takes the time and effort to thank you, if you can’t acknowledge their effort, you are training them not to thank you in the future, not to thank anybody. You are training them that “thank you” can be an uncomfortable behavior.
I sell.
My work is about enlarging and improving relationships. It’s hard to work with people who have decided “thank you” is uncomfortable.
If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for me. “Thank you” – “You’re welcome.”
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Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe server did acknowledge your gratitude, perhaps just in a different way than you expected. "No problem" is not "you're welcome", obviously, but does it need to be?
Also, chances are pretty good that the server is unused to even being acknowledged, let alone thanked, as we have become quite rude, in my opinion. What used to be 'common courtesy' is far less common, today, so he/she has had less practice in accepting thanks and that may have looked like discomfort, to you.
Thank you ;>)
Over the weekend I was reading the 40th Anniversary Edition of Dune, by Frank Herbert. In a polyglot universe, they devolved to individual "battle languages" kind of like the Navajoes in Windtalkers. I have had several posts now that "No problem" is supposedly the same as "you're welcome."
ReplyDeleteAs the guy who wrote the post, I disagree. "No problem" shuts down the conversation...that is what it is intended to do by the efficient. "You are MOST welcome" comes from the effective, using the common interaction to build rather than hold off, a relationship.
P'raps a question of what you are trying to accomplish with your communication opportunity, non?
Thank you for focusing me!
You're welcome is a much more pleasent way to acknowlege a Thank You. But....the French say de rien (it's nothing)...but they are the French.
ReplyDeleteNow don't go starting with that French-baiting again! At least they don't drink their beer warm!
ReplyDeleteActually in another comment, "de Nada" is efficient, gets you out of further conversation. "You're welcome" is effective...like a two handed handshake. As Rick said, "Louie, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!"