I am excited to introduce Jacqueline Wilson from WritRams as the guest blogger for today’s Saturday Sound Off. I find it very fitting to have Jackie as my FIRST guest blogger as she was the one who inspired me to start my blog. Not to mention, I also credit her for sparking my idea about starting the Saturday Sound Off series. Jackie is a very talented writer and an even better friend. You can find her at WritRams.com and PrimeParentsClub.com
Teen Responses | ‘No Problem’ is a Problem
Remember when people used to say “You’re welcome” when you said “Thank you.” No? Me either. But it used to happen. I know because I see it on TV sometimes. (And, if it’s on television then we all know it must be true.)
In case you haven’t guessed already, my complaint today is about how we respond to each other. More specifically, how teenagers respond to adults.
Now before you get all blah-blah-blah about this being another teen-hater post and how I can’t possibly understand because I’m older than, well, dirt, let me tell you something: I do understand. I won’t go into my parenting credentials and my experience teaching lecture halls full of teens, but I have been around enough of them to know that uncaring responses has become a common trend from the majority—the norm. And it’s annoying.
Really annoying.
I mean, how much more of an effort is it really to say “you’re welcome” instead of “no problem”? Um, let me see, same amount of words…so IT’S NOT. And, by the way Tracy and Timmy Teen? I didn’t ask you if there was a problem, I just said THANK YOU. Your response doesn’t even make sense in the bigger scheme of things.
So, the next time a teen responds “no problem” to your “thank you,” take a moment to school them on why “no problem” really is a problem.
And while we’re at it, don’t even get me started on “It’s not my fault.” I better end this now before I burst an important blood vessel somewhere.
What’s your pet peeve phrase from teens?
Jacqueline Wilson is a published author and founder and editor of PrimeParentsClub.com–a site dedicated to celebrating and connecting parents 35 and up. She also blogs daily on her observational parenting humor site, WritRams.com-Writer Ramblings on Parenting Imperfectly. Jacqueline escaped the corporate world and now spends her day juggling between being a work-at-home mom and a stay-at-home mom. She apologizes for any organic juice spilled on the business documents you receive.
I remember ‘no problem’ being a huge problem when the hub’s older kids were early teenagers. He’d reply to them by saying, “Uh, there is a problem. Your attitude!”
The one that irritates me is, “Whatever…” in response to, well, just about anything!
I agree with the answer of “whatever.” Very annoying! My son is 3 going on 13 some days. I can only imagine what the teenage years will be like. Yikes!
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I have often answered “no problem” (been working on changing it) not because I had an attitude issue (although I certainly have THAT at times, too), but because I’ve often struggled with thinking I have done something valuable. It was the false kind of humility I was taught in the Baptist south. I genuinely believed it was the better answer — to assure the other individual that it had been no problem, nothing special, just the kind of thing that anyone would do. It seemed saying “you’re welcome” implied that I had done something worth merit and passing the salt/pepper or jotting down an address or whatever misc. task hardly seemed worth it. It would have horrified me to know that someone thought I was being disrespectful by answering “no problem.”
AWESOME comment, Jennifer. I had NEVER thought of it this way. Thank you for bringing a new perspective.
I am 100% on the same page as Jennifer. I say “no problem” all the time, and my teen years are long gone,
In my mind it is how I let someone know that what I did for them was no burden at all.
I think you both bring up good points. And to be honest, I am guilty of saying no problem on occasion. Ironically I have been conducting some trainings at work this week and one of the videos addresses the use of slang, particularly using the phrase, no problem. When other ppl here that phrase it may illicit a negative response because the primary word they hear is problem and think why would it be a problem. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
We live in Europe now and are “attempting” to learn French. If someone thanks you in French the response is, “du rein”, which translates to, “it’s nothing”. We thought that was sort of blasé. I can see both points mentioned above about saying “no problem”, but I do prefer to hear, “your welcome”. As for, “whatever”, well that response is not allowed in our house.
I remember saying whatever when I was a teenager. Now it feels like nails on a chalkboard when I hear someone else say that. Funny who things change. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
[...] I have had two guest bloggers write entries for the Saturday Sound Off. This one and this one. (If you would like to be a guest blogger, let me [...]
[...] heart because it was the first series I ever created and it also paved the way for me to have my first guest blogger. With that being said, the Saturday Sound Off series is going on hiatus. Don’t be sad, it is [...]