Leaving the gym after handball Monday night, I held the first of two exit doors open for a woman who was a few steps behind me.

“Thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome,” I said.

Then I held open the second door for her as well  (the gym has sort of an entryway with doors on either end of it.

“Thank you,” she said again.

“You’re welcome,” I again replied.

As we strode toward the parking lot, she turned to me and said, “I just read an article about the death of ‘you’re welcome.’”

“Really?” I asked. “My mom taught me to say please and thank you, and if someone said thank you to me, to say you’re welcome.

“I can’t stand it,” I continued, “when I say thank you to someone and they respond with, ‘uh-huh.’”

We continued on to our respective vehicles and I said, “Have a nice evening.”

“You too,” she came back with.

“Thanks,” I answered.

“You’re welcome,” she replied, laughing, as did I.

To me, if someone responds to a thank-you with an “uh-huh” or a “yep,” it’s as if they’re saying, “Yes, I acknowledge you needed to thank me.”

But if they respond with “no sweat” or “no problem,” that’s pretty much as good as a you’re welcome to me.

What do you think?

One last thing on the subject of good manners: I once heard a very old woman advise to always have them because “they don’t cost you anything, and they can take you a long way.”

Good advice, I would say.