Friday, February 27, 2009

thank you! thanks SO much! no, no, thank YOU!

i know some ppl are concerned that ppl are impolite these days and that we are always rushing around and dont have time for manners...buuut im going to have to disagree. i think we may actually say thank you TOO much in this country. if anything, maybe we are polite when we dont need to be and forget our manners when we actually should use them. hmm.. i first noticed this when i went to spain the first time around and our teachers were like irritated at us that we said thank you when they handed papers back or passed out materials...they were like, why does each person need to say thank you every single time?? they quickly made us stop this incessant thanking and if you think about it, they may have a point! i thought about this yesterday when i was on my way to work. first its the bus driver...when we get off we say, thank you thank you thank you...and he has to say youre welcome youre welcome your welcome...all day long. like, really? why must we say thank you to the bus driver every day at least twice a day. i dont mean to be mean, but like..hes just doing his job and us mindlessly saying thank you in a monotone voice isnt actually being nice..its just some sort of weird habit. its not like i stop the metro conductor and say thank you to him each time i hop off the metro. wait, should i?? great, now i feel bad for the metro drivers! anyway, then its the newspaper guy...he just repeats ok have a great day ok have a great day ok have a great day...all morning long for hours and hours and we all rush past him, grab a paper, and yell thank you THANK YOU thaaaaank you sir! then i get on a shuttle bus to my work and its the saaaaame thing with this bus driver...thank you have a great day, youre welcome, have a good one, thanks so much, thanks its been a delight! best bus ride of my life..until the next one in about 8 hours. haha i mean i guess its fine to say thank you all the time..i just really think people dont even know what they are saying anymore...the word is losing meaning and its no longer special. but clearly i dont want to be different and so i will continue to say thank you to all paper people and bus drivers! even if the bus driver was 20 mins late or it was the worst ride of my life or if the paper was torn and wrinkled...i will still do my part, smile, and say thank you!

3 comments:

  1. Agreed. I think. "i'm sorry" is also overused. Blog on that one next. ;-)

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  2. OMG youre right!! like, when someone bumps into YOU, you say im sorry...or when someone barges into the elevator while you are trying to get out...oh, im sorry...but why?? im SUPPOSED to get out first...so irritating! hah!

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  3. so today i was touring some prisons...you know, typical day on the job...and we went in one unit and an officer was standing there..didn't say a word to me, didn't hold the door, didn't talk to us about the unit, didn't do anything actually except look pretty annoyed and on my way out, i passed him and was like, "thank you!" and then i had a total flashback to your blog and was like why in the hell did i just thank him? it just slipped out!

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