Just Say Thank You

I am teaching my kids to always say "thank you" to someone who does some service for you, even if that thing was inadequate in some way. We say "thank you" to store clerks who ring us up at the register, librarians who tell us our books are overdue, and customers who look but don't buy. Saying "thank you" encourages people to keep on wanting to serve, which is very important, because if we ever want to be served correctly (in our opinion), we first have to be served at all. We all can remember as a child making some craft or other for our parents. How did we feel when our parents said "thank you?" How did we feel when our parents said "you call THIS a craft?" Feelings don't go away just because we grow up. We learn how to control them and not act on them, but let's face it, when we grown-ups hear a "thank you" we still feel more inclined to serve again than we do if we hear nothing but criticism.

So the next time you see a military member, a policeman, paramedic, or firefighter, just say "thank you." Whether you like how the military is doing in Iraq, whether you think the city government is full of corruption, whether you think these people are doing their jobs the way you would want them done or not, just say "thank you" to them for what they did do for you.