Thank you is such a normal thing right? Often I don't even realize I am saying it. I feel thank you is just a simple form of recognition that is so easily shared for any variety of things. Yet, somehow I am still amazed at how so many people do not say this. It does not offend me but I do think to myself that maybe it is just me that thinks "thank you" is a very important part of life.
On a daily basis I take the CTA and PACE. Every morning when I get on the bus I say hello to the bus driver and if I exit from the front door thank them when I exit. It is not needed to say thank you, all they did was do their job and get me where I needed to go yet still I am appreciative for the service they fulfilled. I could have been made to walk, bike, drive, or any other mode of transportation but instead I elected to take them up on the service they provide and in return I feel a simple thank you is in order. I have noticed that many people say thank you while still so many other do not find the need to say anything. I wonder if the reason the other people didn't say thank you is because they really are not thankful and are not appreciative of what they got. What would those people say if their bus just simply wasn't there one day or what they would do if the bus broke down on route. Are these the people that would blame the driver for their tardiness to their final destination when is was not the drivers fault at all?
My thinking goes well beyond "Thank You" to my other thought of do people really care about one another any longer? Has the world become so self absorbed with ourselves that we do not take the time, all 1 second, it takes to just let people know that others care about what they are doing. I know that I am one to step out of my way and help out if I can and I do not even think twice about it. The part that strikes me odd is the looks people give who over see the good deeds. For example a few weeks back I got off the Blue line at Damen and a girl in front of me was struggling to carry her suitcase down the stairs. Since I only had my backpack and both of my hands were free I offered to help her carry her suitcase down the stairs. The suite case was not that heavy it was just an awkward shape but it was very simple for me to do this. It is not that the girl couldn't have done this all her self but sometimes its just nice when someone helps you out. A few people passing by just kinda stared and my friend with me made a joke about well aren't you a nice guy. I don't think that it is being nice other then just helping out when I can because I know that when I need help I would be very appreciative of receiving help.
Last year I went with my friend Patricia to The Chicago Film Festival to see Trust by David Schwimmer and after the film during his Q&A he made a statement that I don't think I will forget anytime soon. The reason I will not forget it is because it hit home because I am exactly what he was talking about. David Schwimmer made a statement about a scene he took out that showed a family of 4 at a restaurant for dinner where none of them were talking to each other but all on their cell phones talking to whom ever. This stuck out at first because it is so easily imaginable these days. The reason I will not forget it is I am that absorbed person in todays world that doesn't notice what is going on around because I am glued to my cell phone. As soon as I left the theater I went straight to my cell phone and was too focused on that and came within inches of a collision with another person. That person I almost ran into on the sidewalk was the same one who had just made the statement, David Schwimmer. I think that was the moment I realized that my cell phone is not as important to me as the people around me are and I think that is when I started to pay more attention to the little things like I used to.
Going on with how we have become so absorbed into ourselves makes me think of a time I was trying to fly to Atlanta when all hell broke loose and all the flights got messed up and canceled. I was among the many passengers stranded in the airport and I was appalled by the negative things that were being said to people working. I realize that people are frustrated but please someone tell me what good can come from yelling at the clerk behind the gate kiosk. What did they do to you that makes it ok for you to blame them for your problems. Last I knew they were just employees of the airline that are doing what they can to try to help you. They are not the ones who cancelled the flights in the first place what good is going to come from blaming them. Let me ask you something, when was the last time you knew exactly what your company was doing? That product that launched, did you know every detail about it and why it launched on this date vs that date. Why did your boss decide to make you point on this project and not that project? No you probably can not. You might be able to say something about it but you can not really tell me why. So you do you expect the gate kiosk employee to know why people 15 pay grades above them canceled the flight you were on.
I really just think doing one simple little thing like saying thank you when someone does something nice will really go along way. Why have we all become so self absorbed that we can't even notice what is going on in front of us and why can't we just realize that things happen and that sometimes the people we blame and take our frustration out on are just as frustrated as we are. Just try to be a little friendlier. I am generally happy with what I see on a daily basis but I really think there is plenty of room for improvement. I know I can do better and I know that everyone else can to. Just think of what you learned in kinder garden..... Treat others like you want to be treated.
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