No thanks, no problem

Just read Michelle Malkin's bit on pet peeve phrases and it hit a nerve. I have a real bugaboo with service these days anyway, and our plummeting literacy is just making things worse.

I went to our local grocery store the other day and passed through the checkout. The clerk did not say "thank you", so I said "thank you" myself. The clerk just blankly responded, "No problem". Oddly enough, this employee's title is "Courtesy Clerk".

That's it, "no problem"? But, there is a problem. This clerk just assured me that I did not create a major inconvenience by expecting him to do his job. How very considerate.

This is normal these days. Kids simply have no idea what civil dialogue is. I'm pretty sure in my day I would have said, "Oh no, thank you", feeling a tad embarrassed at not having thanked the customer first. But today, they don't blink an eye. They don't even say "you're welcome", just "no problem".

Do managers even know what their people say? Are they not instructing employees on simple courtesy? Do they even care?