Two little words

I broke down on the motorway this morning on my way to work. I had been sat in a lot of congested traffic and was in the middle of a 4 lane junction when it happened. As usual no one helped they just blasted their horns and drove past angrily. Fortunately I was on a slight slope and managed to pull over on the hard shoulder near one of the orange telephone boxes that we in the UK have for such emergencies.

I was already very late for work and just a little shellshocked at such a reception at being incapacitated. The gentleman on the other end of the line was soothing and helpful, he contacted my breakdown agency and arranged for them to come and see to my car and then gave me some safety advice on being stuck on a motorway.

A co-worker and I were discussing the other day the value of two small words and the difference they make to a tough day. I wondered this morning how many people had said them to the people like the gentleman I had just been speaking to. Those two words are 'Thank You'.

Its so much easier to thank someone in front of you who gives you a service which you can see and so easy to forget those who have really done all the leg work. I can't bear it when people say an automatic thanks without even lifting their heads, thats not a thank you its an acknowledgement that you are there. In my previous work I have found that small children are the best at saying thank you as they have the parents (or whomsoever) watching over them but who watches us adults? How many of us have thought 'how rude' when we haven't even been looked at let alone spoken to.

I thought back across my previous jobs and realised that I have worked in some terrible places (LOL) but the ones that said thank you to me at the end of each day were the ones I had spent the longest in, regardless of how stressed or angry they made me at times.

My Mother always made sure we were polite to all people and yet just recently she is starting to not say thank you to people. When I asked her why, she said it was because if other people couldn't be bothered why should she. I was shocked, not only because of the attitude but because she was right. I always say thank you and with a smile.

Make someones day less stressful today and say a heartfelt thank you when they do something, I promise you it makes all the difference.

How very true!

Terri

Baa, not only do I try to be thankful (and express thanks) for those who help me, but I try to smile at people I encounter. It's amazing and sad how many people seem to carry a scowl most of the time. But I've found it is a real pick-me-up to catch someone's eye and smile at them, and receive a smile in return. (Much better than scowling back, for sure!) I've found I generally get much better customer service when I approach an establishment with a smile than a frown.

(And sometimes a smile will get you a surprised look, which is fun - keeps 'em guessing!)

I'm with you.

One day, almost ten years ago, I was feeling bluer than a crayola. Some man on the street, a guy I did not know, smiled at me - not one of those leering creepy smiles, not one of those smiles that are automatic. Nope. He looked at me, recognized me as a fellow human person deserving basic human respect, and smiled at me. TEN YEARS AGO, and I haven't forgotten. I even remember what he looked like.

So now, I try to remember to always smile at people as I pass them, or while driving, or whenever I catch someone's eye. The way I figure it is, if I can make someone's day just a little bit brighter, then they in turn will probably make the people they meet a little bit happier. What if the person I smile at is some crazy wife/child/dog beater, and my smile lifts his mood just enough so that, on this one day, he doesn't beat his wife/child/dog? If you look at it in that light, it's gross irresponsibility NOT to smile at people.

Smiling foolishly from ear to ear,
pisces

I too try to use please, thank you and a smile in my day to day activites, be they work or leisure. There is so much value in these small little gestures. I feel comfortable using them all of the time. It's not something I have to make an effort to do. The response is usually quite surprising.

I also try to treat a smile like a contagious disease and spread it around as easily as the common cold spreads. When you give a smile to someone, they usally pass it on without realizing they have spread the smile. A single smile can ripple very far.

I also try to give "good phone". When you are smiling while you are on the phone, it really does come through in your voice. I have found that I can smile and say "No thank you, I'm not interested" and hang up on a telemarketer without being rude.

Baa, I know what you mean about your mom. My Mom taught us to have manners too. But she doesn't always use them herself now for the very same reasons. I have encounterd a lot of people my age and older that grew up in a time when manners were taught. These same people would have chastised their children for not using their manners. But they themselves no longer feel the need to use them. I do hope that I don't do the same thing as I get older.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who feels that good manners still have a place in our lives.

Sharon :-)

I smile a lot as I sit at the keyboard typing too!

I think we should all be thanking Dave and Trish for providing us with such a wonderful garden site to go to. Just where would we all be without Dave's Garden?????? So to Dave and Trish...I thank you for providing us with Dave's Garden. For without Dave's Garden I wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet the many wonderful friends who are always willing to help someone else with our questions or to offer support when the need arises or a shoulder to lean on sometimes. So to you Dave and Trish..I say Thank You and to all the members here I also say Thank You. I have truely learned alot from reading many of the posts.
Thank You One and All !

I've often noticed how many people say "thank you" to bus drivers when they stop to let us off at the bus stop. I always do.

I *sometimes* say thank you to people who let the door slam in my face ... It's a pet peeve. It happens so frequently, I may just take the pet home and name it Fido.

And "thank you" for such a nice positive post. On a side note, I can't believe how many people in the customer service industry don't say thank you anymore.

Thank you all for your positive feedback.

SMSpear

I had a little smile at your post especially, you see I'm not of an older generation, I'm 28 years old. My parents had disciplinarian child raising ideas which has given me an overwhelming sense of duty to others.

Jewel

I know what you mean about customer disservice, I have a strong accent from more northerly parts of England but live in the south. I have often not been served or been treated like a leper. Oh well can't make everyone like me, their loss LOL.

Piscies

Don't get annoyed get positive. There are many things to be angry about in life, War, povery, famine, torture to name but a few. When I feel irritated I try and channel it to something positive even if its just making people aware of the things that are irritating which is why I posted this in the first place.

One of the things I heard that helps me when I get doors slammed in my face and such like is:

There is no such thing as an unimportant job, no such thing as insignificant people and no such thing as a small act of kindness.

Another couple of words that are seldom used are 'yes maam' and 'yes sir'.Growing up in the south,it was drilled into us from infancy.Kids these days have no idea about manners,because their parents don't use good manners themselves.

I get wonderful service in New york City every time I go.I answer everyone with a smile and in my best southern dialect...give em a big 'yahs maahm' or 'yahs surrh'and _always_ say thank you! It's amazing what can be accomplished.There's an old saying that is so very true...'you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar'

By the way....Thank You,dave and Trish for this great site.

Hey y'all, I was just joking! Mom and Dad taught me well: never sit or stand with your back to people; never address anyone in the third person if they're in the room; if you CAN smile at someone, do it; always thank people for the smallest of services; make people laugh whenever you can; and most importantly - treat everyone as the special person that they are, and understand that if they're in a pee-pee mood, there's usually a reason.

(Although people not holding doors open for others IS a pet peeve, I certainly wouldn't ever think of chastising someone for it!)

a smiley, happy fishy

Thank you, thank you, thank you, and PLEASE!!!!