You're Appreciated

I just really noticed how much a simple "thank you" can mean to someone. Something so simple and polite as "thank you" gets overlooked by so many. But why?

People get so busy and caught up in themselves that they forget to say thank you to someone. Or they're just using someone for their advantage and don't care for manners after the fact. But in most cases, people do say thank you, they just don't really show their appreciation. For example: you're at a check out line about to pay for something, but you come up short on cash. The person in line behind notices and is nice enough to give you the difference. You say thanks, make your purchase, and leave. Now what if that same person ended up not having enough for their purchase, something they really wanted? They probably wouldn't mind giving you their money depending on the extent of your gratitude.

I've been on both sides of the fence with this. I had a friend I did multiple favors for. I don't recall her saying thanks, but being as we were friends, I didn't mind helping her. But later down the road I found out that she'd been talking about me behind my back, which made me realized what an unappreciative little bitch she was! Pardon my french. I don't regret anything I've done for her because that's just a reflection of my character. Only thing that's upsets me is how I did so much for her and she couldn't even be thankful enough to not talk about me behind my back. On the reverse, back when I was pregnant, my mother would always buy groceries for me. I was staying with my boyfriend and his mom, and there wasn't always food in the house. Although I really appreciated what she did for me, I don't think I always said thank you. My mom and I are totally different shoppers. She likes to browse, I like to get in and out. So I would get moody when we're in the store for too long, forgetting that all in all she's just doing me a favor.

I believe everyone has manners, they just use it less when they're more comfortable with someone. But that's not an excuse to not always use your manners, because even the person you're closest with can feel unappreciated.