I just wanted to say thank you...

Been a while since I posted but this came to mind tonight.  Whatever happened to thank you?

                30 years ago growing up as a child I remember my grandmother saying to me when I had received something, what do we say?  The answer of course was Thank you.  Now it seems that phrase, those two little words have been removed from the English language here in the US.  I am not sure why.  As kids we would be given THE STARE, or have something that we wanted withheld for not saying it. It was more than a courtesy. It was an acknowledgement. It was an understanding that you were not only obliged to say but something you meant.  Thank you for getting that for me.  Thank you for helping me. Thank you for showing compassion. Thank you for being human.

Somewhere it became something either too hard or to “uncool” to say. It is not that we stopped acknowledging deeds we just changed the script.  We now say “no problem” or “forget about it”.  We stopped writing thank you letters.  No more cards of thanks for presents or the help that was given.  In the recruiting world I used the word thank you to much.  I wrote thank you letters, emails, and left messages of thanks for both consultants and clients.  Thank you for your resume and the RIGHT to represent you to new a position.  Thank you for letting me to help you as a customer or for allowing me to fill your open position.  Then something happened.  I thought THEY owed me.  The client cannot fill the job without ME.  The consultant cannot find a job without ME. They owe ME.  They should be thanking ME.  I feel like I have lost my way. I stopped saying thank you.  I took for granted that people called me.  Managers asked for me.  My hubris knew no bounds.  I stopped saying thank you.

Today, I helped someone.  It was nothing special, at least not to me really, but in that one moment it meant something to someone enough to say thank you to me.  I was floored.  It had been so long since I had heard it.  It made me realize that with all that happens around me that sometimes the two words THANK YOU can meen more than any gift basket, bottle of wine, or monetary compensation to someone.  The voice was small.  Yet there it was. Thank you. 

Tomorrow I have a lot of people to say thank you to.  But first, let me say, thank you for reading this.

Views: 773

Comment by Kelly Blokdijk on July 9, 2013 at 9:17pm

Good stuff here, Derd! So true how far a simple "thank-you" goes. I try my best to show appreciation, but I'm sure I've forgotten to give proper thanks a few times. 

I'm one of those that gets asked for favors, advice, etc., on a regular basis and I'm always willing to lend a hand when I can. Even though I don't expect anything in return, I do admit getting a tad upset when the other person doesn't bother at least saying thanks. 

BTW: thanks to everyone here on RBC that tweets w/ me. I dig all of you for that. ~KB @TalentTalks 

Comment by Noel Cocca on July 9, 2013 at 10:00pm

Such a good reminder.  Today my wife received a card from her bosses boss to thank her for her leadership during her hospitals conversion to EMR.  She was so happy.  And also today someone new to our staff stepped up and helped Ryan and I in a big way at the last second.  I gave her (and Ryan) big thanks for covering MY butt.  

Comment by Derdiver on July 10, 2013 at 9:28am

Kelly and Noel,

Thanks you for the comments. I always try and pay it forward when I can.  You never know what type of domino effect you can cause with just two words.

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