My sixteen-year-old daughter made an observation during a trip to Disney World that may be helpful to you.
She believes the phrase “you too” is a frequent automatic response to parting words from service people. Some phrases, however, don’t work well with this automatic response and leave the customer feeling awkward.
Examples of accidentally awkward endings:
“Enjoy the movie!”
“You too!”
(The ticket taker will not be going to the movie. They will keep taking tickets. Whoops.)
“Have fun in the park!”
“You too!”
(The Disney parking attendant will be standing in a kiosk all day. They will not be going to the park.)
“Enjoy your coffee!”
“You too!”
(The barista is sick of coffee and will be drinking something else when their shift ends in six hours.)
“I hope your surgery goes well!”
“You too!”
Whoops.
Therefore, Mara proposes a customer service shift. Instead of responding with a smile, train people to notice social awkwardness and end customer exchanges with something that can be responded to with “You too!” It’s potentially generic, but safe.
Some examples might be:
“Enjoy the day!”
“I hope your time goes well!”
“Have a fine day!”
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