Boomers: Stop complaining when millennials say ‘no problem’ instead of ‘you’re welcome’
If you’re like me, you have worse problems than “no problem.”
But “no problem” is a problem for some people.
When someone says “Thank you,” some millennials reply, “No problem.”
Other people do, too, but don’t point that out or you’ll ruin the whole stereotype.
“No problem” tends to tick off some baby boomers, who feel it does not fully acknowledge the gravity of their gratitude. They think you’re supposed to reply, “You’re welcome.”
But some younger people don’t reply “You’re welcome” because their sense of irony reserves “You’re welcome” for someone who neglects to say “Thank you.”
Also some millennials are annoyed boomers so take their generational fortune for granted that they have time to make “no problem” a problem.
Reportedly the latest millennial snark is not the sarcastic “You’re welcome” but the deadpan “OK boomer,” which I thought was spontaneous when a New Zealand legislator snapped it at a heckler during her remarks on climate change.
But it turned out “OK boomer” already was a theme on a video app called TikTok, which people my age don’t know about. And that totally ruined it for me, so, thanks a lot. (No problem.)
I am told that I am a boomer, though I was born toward the end of the boom, and I identify more with Generation X.
That’s partly because when I almost grew up, most of my close friends and coworkers were Generation X. And it’s partly because I’m still working, and most of the boomers I know are retired backwater-property motorcycle-RV-boat owners posting pictures of their grandchildren on Facebook.
So it appears to me that today the way to anger a boomer is to say “no problem” or “OK boomer.” And the way to infuriate a millennial is to say:
“You will never have a dependable job or pension or health insurance or social safety net as you pay off college loans in a predatory financial system that bounces you from gig to gig while the climate accelerates into decline and microplastics fill your gut. … You’re welcome.”
Speaking of stereotypes, readers from the Greatest Generation might wonder who all these other generations are. You didn’t have all these generations back when they were growing up, you know. You had your siblings, your parents and your grandparents, and that was it. And that’s the way it was and they liked it.
So, now that they’re sound asleep with the TV blaring Fox News and the thermostat set at 96 degrees, let’s go back and check:
Most people know boomers were born between 1946 and 1964, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, the bookend years marking an abrupt rise in births after World War II and rapid decline in the mid-1960s.
Other designations are unofficial, so the Pew Research Center recently generated these categories based on birth year:
- The Silent Generation, born 1928-1945.
- Baby boomers, born 1946-1964.
- Generation X, born 1965-1980.
- Millennials, born 1981-1996
- Post-millennials, born after 1997.
So, there you have it: A more precise way to tag people by age, whether they fit the label or not.
Some millennials are too young to take life so seriously, and some Boomers are too old to have never grown up, no matter how much responsibility they have now.
So, to those of any age who defy such generational stereotypes, we should all offer a big “Thank you.”
No problem.