A Simple Thank You

A Simple Thank YouA taxi driver from Focsani in Romania found £2,500 and some passports in the back of his cab after taking two businessmen to a meeting. In Romania this is the equivalent of two and a half year’s wages for an average cabbie.The honest cab driver guarded the money and took precious time out when he should have been out looking for customers and earning a living. The driver sat and guarded the money and belongings until the owners were able to come and collect it.Finally the two businessmen arrived to get their money and passports. Their obvious relief and happiness in getting their money and passports back was countered with a heartless and incredible reward for the cab driver – they just took the money and walked away without so much as a thank you.

Incredible though it may seem they neither took the trouble to thank the driver or offer any kind of reward as encouragement. Just what will happen the next time some hapless foreign visitor leaves their belongings in the back of this drivers taxi?
All too often these days acts of kindness or effort on the part of many individuals is rewarded by stony silence or indifference. What would you have done? Has life’s experience taught you that honesty is not the best policy?

This common courtesy extends to simple day to day things. You fire off requests for information by email or you take up someone’s valuable time and resources. They reply with what you want – do you thank them? This is the most common criticism of email related enquiries and the reason why your requests are often ignored. People can no longer be bothered to respond.

When you receive exceptional service at a restaurant or a member of the public goes out of their way to help you out – what do you do? How do you thank them?

Recently a down and out guy sat hunched up in the cold outside a chip shop was handed some chicken and chips and a hot cup of coffee by a concerned passer by who only went into the chippie out of compassion to buy a meal for someone who was obviously less fortunate than himself. In response the tramp replied angrily “You could have just given me some money”

You drive through a busy town centre and no one gives you right of way or offers to let you out so you have to edge your way into the traffic and force yourself out into the busy road, eventually blocking it so that others are reluctantly forced to let you out.
Just when you despair of the human race a natural disaster of epic proportion in the form of a tsunami devastates a multitude of countries. Your faith in human nature is restored as you see millions, billions even, being donated to the charities.
The point of this rant? Did you donate to the tsunami relief effort? Do you take the trouble to thank people on a regular basis for things they have done for you or do you take it for granted. Are you a contributor to modern society and its ugly side? Think about it. It affects the way you live…

Only you can really answer these questions. What experiences of ingratitude or gratitude have you come across recently?

A simple thank you costs nothing……..

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