Please and Thank You

Today in our busy lives it seems we have forgotten how to use three very simple word. We have forgotten to have manners. We live in a society that has this impression that they are entitled and no one sees the importance of a Thank You.

Well, I have tried to teach my children that they are not entitled and that a Thank You can make a person's day. We say Please and Thank You as if they are second nature.

When was the last time that you said thank you to a cashier, waitress, or receptionist? If you can't remeber the last time, then you should be ashamed of yourself. Many people work in positions of service. They are often paid minimum wages. Yet most will great you with a smile and say thank you for coming in. You are no more entitiled to a thank you then they are, but simply telling them thank you for helping you may make their day brighter. They may even give you better service the next time you visit.

When was the last time you asked you waiter if he/she could please bring you something? If you didn't say please with your request, then shame on you! Here is a story that made me thank of the importance of my please that I didn't even realize. Most of you know I do genealogy research on my family. Early in my research I was looking for informaiton on my great grandfather. I already had the dates on my grandfather, so I was moving ahead. I posted a queary on a genealogy message board. "Please help....." A wonderful genteman came across my post and responded. He said that he had found the obituary of my grandfather, would I like a copy? I wrote him back telling him thank you very much and that I would love a copy since I didn't have one. A few weeks later I got an envelope in the mail from the man with a copy of the obituary. I emailed him to let him know I got it and to thank him. I also asked if there was any genealogy research that he could use some help with please let me know. He wrote back to say that no he doesn't do genealogy research. He simply does work with old archived newspapers and saw my request. He says he rarly ever responds to a request, but because I asked please he couldn't ignore it and was happy that he could give me something of my grandfather that I didn't have. In other word "Please" will get you closer to your goal then making a demand!

I didn't realize until yesterday that it has become such an important part in our family that my two year old surpised me. I was having a not so good day yesterday. With errarnds to run and a bank account issue to deal with and blister on my feet, I was about exhausted. At about 1:30 yesterday I finally gave up and went back home to feed the kids.

When we headed back out later my daughter grabbed up her doll and teddy. I didn't think anything of it until we were on our way across town to the next bank I needed to go to. Jamie kept dropping her doll and was fussing to reach it. It was where I could reach it easy enough so I picked it up and handed it back to her. She said "Thank you, Mommy!" with a big smile on her face. I had to make myself consentrate on my driving because what I really wanted to do was grab her up and give her a good squeeze. I had been repeating those words to her when appropriate, but it wasn't till then that I realized she got it.

She turned my whole day around. When I got to the bank I was in a great mood and everything started working out! And that leads me to another post for another day. Look forward to my post on the Secret of life. The law of attraction.