What to reply when the ladies sweeping the steps outside a temple tell you 「ご苦労様」?


I was at a temple the other day, and as I was leaving and going down the
stairs, the ladies that were cleaning the steps said to me 「ご苦労様」. I replied
with 「ありがとうございます、おつかれさま」, but I felt sort of awkward after that. Does anyone
know how I should have replied?

Thanks




I think that お疲れ様 is the safest option. If you want to make it more polite,
you can say お疲れ様です, although I am not completely sure how formal it is. 失礼します
is also common when you leave some place. Saying ありがとうございます in that situation
sounds a little too heavy to me.

The worst option is to tell the ladies that their use of
[ご苦労様](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1266/when-and-to-whom-
should-i-use-the-expression-%E3%81%94%E8%8B%A6%E5%8A%B4%E6%A7%98-gokurousama)
is not very appropriate because it is often used when superiors talk to
subordinates. :)

