Mind your P’s and Q’s
I believe in always saying please and thank you. As a young child I was never given anything without a please and always prompted for a thank you. And as I grew up I said it to everyone. To some people it might seem like an insignificant thing as though it’s some how implied. But I know that every waiter and waitress likes to hear thank you and that those words might make their night just a little better, like they’ve done something good, which they have. And I always make sure to tell my teachers thank you everyday even if they’ve handed out a hard exam because they’re not trying to be the bad guy; it’s part of their job. I’ve even told a gentleman thank you for pausing a little through the door way hoping I’d catch it. And even though he didn’t go out of his way, I still said thank you because maybe next time he’d hole the door open a little longer for someone else.
And last year when I spent some time in Russia, I made sure that the first phrase I learned was thank you, Bal-shoe Spasiba. Actually that was the only phrase I really used there. Every time a waiter brought me something, Bal-shoe Spasiba. Every time a waiter took my plate, Bal-shoe Spasiba. And yet every time they laughed at me. I thought that I was saying something dumb like, “Wow I really like your pig,” but when I asked my friend who had lived in Russia her whole life she told me that I was saying it right. I asked her, “then why were they laughing at me.” And she said because no one says that so they don’t know how to take it.
Now that I’m back in the states I take please and thank you to heart and never forget to say it no matter how small the task or who did it. To anyone and everyone who will listen even if they don’t say anything back. It’s all the same. That’s why I believe in saying please and thank you.