What's the simplest yet nicest way to show gratitude for an act of kindness? Simply saying "thank you". Whether you realize it or not, you can make someone's day by saying thank you after they have done something nice for you that they didn't have to do, or you can ruin their day by not saying thank you at all. Why do people choose to not say thank you? Only that person knows the answer to that....or do they?
I recently experienced several back to back episodes where I took time out of my day to either tell someone happy birthday, help them out with a situation they were going through, took time to download and send them photos from my camera, say happy Thanksgiving, and give a few people a small gift that they weren't expecting, only to be told "ok", or not get a response at all. That hurts. It hurts because it comes across to me as if they're telling me that's something I'm expected to do, not something I really didn't have to do, so why should they tell me thank you? It brings me to another situation that kills me about some people. When I approach a store and realize someone is walking right behind me, I open the door and hold it for them, only to have them walk in with this attitude about them that I'm supposed to hold the door open for them because I'm beneath them. They never say thank you and that irritates me beyond means. What it makes me want to do is slap the shit out of them and scold them about saying thank you. If the doors we're going through are double doors, you can rest assured that if they don't say thank you for me holding the first door open, I will be opening that next door only enough for my body to squeeze through and letting it slam in their face. Some may call this petty, but I wasn't raised to feel another person is above me and that I should bow down to anyone who treats me less than a human being.
Regardless of how a person was raised, saying "thank you" should be taught and learned as a person grows. It's an act of respect and gratitude and will brighten that other person's day if those 2 words escape the lips of a person they feel they've helped. For someone to take time out of their busy day to do something for another person, no matter how large or small, it could crush them severely or possibly make them resort to a negative vibe to where they decide not to go out of their way for that person any longer, if those 2 words aren't recited to them.
That's how I feel right now. I have a huge heart and I constantly feel bad about having to say no to someone because I'm always trying to please everyone else first, before pleasing myself. Since some people choose to not say thank you and let me feel like I was supposed to tell them happy birthday, happy Thanksgiving, buy them a gift or whatever other small token of my appreciation I've given them, I choose to stop going out of my way. It makes it much easier to say no and take the time to do something for myself when I feel others don't appreciate me and what I do for them anyway.
People, you should really take a step back and analyze how you respond to people because sometimes no response is more powerful than you think.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
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1 comment:
Man o man..is that messed up. Sad part is that folks probably don't even realize that they haven't said a simple thank you.
Continue to do you but I'm tell you what a wise woman once said.
"Everybody gets used. You just gonna have to accept that at some point you're gonna get used. Men use women, women use men. But if you get to the point where you feelin' so used up and he ain't showin' you no ack rights..." Well..I can't remember the rest. lololololol Lemme know if you remember that partially f'd up quote.
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