Q&A for How to Respond when Someone Wishes You Happy Birthday

Just "thank you" or "thank you so much" and a smile should be enough.

Put on your best smile, act pleasant and like you don't hate the person, and say, "Thank you." Don't say anything mean, though, as it will encourage him/her to be nasty.

Pretend you don't know, and act surprised at the party. Don't overdo it, though. Just smile and say something like, "Wow, guys, I can't believe you threw me a party, thank you so much!"

Just tell them it's your birthday. Or walk to them and say, "guess who's one year closer to death! "

Just smile, say thanks and tell them how excited you are to open it when you get home.

You can just simply send a message with a thank you, to show that their greetings were important to you.

Just explain to them that you're unfortunately on a tight budget. You could offer to have a small gathering at home with some friends though.

You could thank them, Either that or make a joke about it like, "Yep! He's the big 2!". It's not a big deal.

You don't need to reply. But if you want to, say, "You're welcome."

It's OK, everybody gets that. In fact, it's also a little bit the point. The singers are saying, "We love you, we sing for you, we know it's embarrassing, but we want you to push through it and hug us and celebrate with us." So shrug it off, take a breath, raise a glass, and tomorrow you can disappear back into the masses, with no special spotlight focused on you alone.

There are ways to have a party on a low budget. You can simply invite some people over and give them tea and coffee. You can ask everyone to bring one bottle of wine, for example, or ask everyone to cook one thing and bring that. However, if you don't want to have a party, they can ask all they want, until they're blue in the face; if you don't want it, it doesn't happen. Say something vague like, "Oh, good idea, I'll think about it and let you know."

Yes, be polite if it is someone you want to have a relationship with in the future.. Say something like "I know we haven't gotten along in the past but I still wanted to wish you Happy Birthday." Or a simple "Have a Happy Birthday!"

Say "Thank you" and smile.

Just say thank you. You can thank them in a different way, and don't have to write a long message back.

Make friends! Go up to some of the quieter, nice girls and ask if you could hang with them at lunch. Or sign up for a club or sport and meet people that way. For now, see if your family wants to do something special for your birthday.

You could say, " Hey! I just wanted to say thanks for the birthday wishes! It's been a great day!". You could text or email this, or just ring and say it.

You could use some sarcasm: "Wow, thanks! It's not for another eleven months, but I appreciate it very much." Or, just ignore that it's late. It's a nice thought. The person probably knows the birthday wishes are late and feels bad, so there's no need to point it out again and make the person feel worse. A mistake like that is not the end of the world, either, so do a Frozen and let it go.

Keeping in mind that you share your birthday with about five million other people should help to keep a humble perspective.

Just email him and explain the situation, apologize for being so late in getting back to him, and thank him for being so considerate and kind. We're all human and make mistakes; he will most likely understand. You could go the distance and send him something small to make up for it, depending on how readily the friend forgives.

You may not need to reply at all. Next time you see the manager, you can say, "Oh, and thanks for the SMS on my birthday." That's enough.