I recently visited the
local drug store to pick up a Mother's Day card, but equally
important, to check out the newly completed renovations. Very
nice! All the shelves in the store are now lower so that someone
standing near the back of the store can see what is happening at the
front of the store. I assume they are trying to cut down on drug
store robberies. The lower shelves do offer a much more open feeling
and great visibility.
As I left the store an
elderly lady, with several packages in hand was trying to open the
door (the store does not have the automatic doors) and she almost
dropped one of the bags she was carrying. I opened the door
for her and she successfully negotiated her way to the parking lot.
As we each approached
our vehicles, she shouted to me.”Thank you for holding the door for
me,,,sonny! I was not that much younger than she was, but if someone
wants to call me 'sonny', who am I to complain?
The expression of
'thank you' has long been a tradition and a reflection on what some
have referred to in the past as a 'civilized society'. But like many
other things, times change and expressing a 'thank you' to someone as
a sign of gratitude may soon become a distant memory.
The use of “thank
you” as an expression of gratitude dates back as early as 900
AD. Some credit the Germans and the word “thankojan” as the early
beginning of the expression “thank you”. Hmm...let's think about
this for a minute. .'thank-o-jan' Those Germans have always
had a flare for words (Must be my imagination at work here.)
Over the years
expressing gratitude became a hallmark of being appreciative and
saying “thank you” to someone was something learned at an early
age. Parents taught children gratitude and respect. As often happens,
though, 'thank you' was shortened to “thanks”, but the intent and
meaning was still the same. But soon 'thank you' or just plan
'thanks' may be gone forever.
Greeting card companies
were quick to get into the act too and “thank you” notes and
cards became a way to express appreciation and you can still find
them in the card aisles today, often just a simple white cards with gold lettering.
The “thank you” I
am referring to is not the one that you get at the store or maybe on
the phone after you have just purchased something. Although forced,
that “thank you is part of doing business and customer services. I
am sure there are people who may have been relocated to the shipping department for not adhering to company policy with the obligatory
'thank you'. Have you ever shopped at a Wal Mart?
The “thank you” to
which I am referring is the one that comes naturally after opening a
door or picking up something for someone that has fallen to the
floor. It is maybe exchanging places with someone in the checkout
line because a mom or dad has three small children in tow or the
number of items to be checked out by the person standing in line
behind you is far less than your overloaded grocery cart filled with
soda and chips.
But today saying “thank
you” or expressing thanks or gratitude to someone seems to have
lost it's importance. It is something that is definitely not being
taught and why should it when we have become a society of
'entitlement', a society of people who have come to believe... 'I
deserve '. Why should I hold the door open for someone or help an
elder person put their groceries in the trunk of their car? Would
they do that for me?
Four containers of
vanilla ice cream fell off the freezer shelf and on to the floor.
It's not a big deal to stop, pick them up and place it back on the
shelf. “Oh, thank you young man”.
Boy, I am doing well
this week. One 'sonny' and one 'young man'. Better quit while I'm
ahead.
By the way, 'thanks'
for reading my column this week.
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