January 13, 2016 Article

The Old Coot has “No problem” having a “Nice day.”

By Merlin Lessler

“Have a nice day!” – You hear this a lot. It feels good; makes it seem like you’re appreciated. It’s a common sendoff from service providers, a nice touch in customer service. But, it wasn’t always this way. And, if you travel to Europe, don’t expect to leave a restaurant and hear, “Have a nice day.” It’s only common in the U.S. and Israel. Not the rest of the world. 

Some people don’t like it. They feel it’s overused, dutiful; doesn’t mean anything more than a plain and simple good bye.  Only slightly better than what’s on the server’s mind,  “Get out of here so I can wait on the next customer.” I don’t agree. I like it. But, I’m an old coot, and people of my vintage seldom hear something nice directed their way. The best we get is, “What can I do for you, old timer?”

The “Have a nice day” phrase first appeared in a 1948 movie, “A letter to Three Wives.” The general public didn’t take to it. I know; I grew up in that era and nobody ever said, “Have a nice day.” We were too engrossed in being cool. We replaced,” Good bye,” not with “Have a nice day,” but with – So long - See ya – Tootles - Ta ta, and the lamest of all, “See you later alligator,” to which the other person was expected to respond, “after a while, crocodile.

“Have a nice day” didn’t go viral until the hippies started using it in the 1960’s. It was in sync with the “Flower Power” movement, the one that had hippies slipping flowers into the gun barrels of soldiers. Then, the truckers adopted it. They used it as a sign-off after a CB radio conversation. It was a strange pairing, truckers and hippies, two diacritically opposed segments of the population opting for the same phrase. Ours was a split society in that era, even more than it is today. It was split over the Viet Nam war, racial equality, women’s rights and most everything held dear by “The Establishment.” It was so bad, this divide, that when veteran’s families carried banners in a Boston Saint Patrick’s day parade that said, “POW/MIA families never have a nice day,” they were greeted with boos and jeers from a hostile anti-war public. (Like the soldiers and their families were to blame for the war. Duh!). Now, “Have a nice day” is so common, you hardly ever hear a plain, “Good-bye.”

But, all good things come to an end. “Have a nice day,” is slowly being replaced with, “No problem.” A lot of customer service people say this. Order coffee at a coffee bar and say thank you when the server hands it to you, and there’s a good chance you’ll hear, “No problem.” Gail Barton brought this to my attention a few years back and I’ve noticed it more and more ever since. She was right in her supposition; it makes you feel “unwelcome” to the service, (you only got your bagel and coffee because it was, “No problem.”) But, I ranted about that in an article a few years ago. My focus today is on “Have a nice day.” And, I better cut it off right here or I won’t ever hear it again.