An experiment
A few weeks ago I started thinking about customer service. Personally I always say please and thank you, mostly because it is habit. As children, we are programmed to say it whether we mean it or not. I do it to my children as well. One of the things we always have our girls do when we go out to a restaurant is order for themselves and they say please and thank you. We always get compliments about their manners.
But I started to wonder if they actually understood why they need to use good manners. When I asked them they did and they didn’t. They are young so the true meaning of being thankful is just starting to emerge for them, but I started to examine how my good manners have just become habit.
So two weeks ago I decided to start really thinking about when I thank someone and how I thank someone. I have been amazed at the results. For example, I started really thanking people when I ordered food or thanking them for being quick on my order or just saying I appreciated it. The response has been great. I get genuine smiles. I haven’t had one wrong order. If someone asked me how my day was as part of their spiel, I always said great and how is yours. Two different times I got “Wow, thanks for asking.”
It was a great two weeks and is now part of my everyday. Most importantly, I feel truly thankful. That good to the bone feeling that puts a smile on your face even when you are stuck in traffic. It is a wonderful feeling that I highly recommend. 
September 25th, 2007 at 3:11 am
I would say Thank you for bringing this subject up, but I worry that you might think I was just doing it out of habit. Just kidding. I was just experiencing a very similar situation today with a four year old girl. She is the daughter of the folks I work for. As the office is out of their house, I see the kids daily but we have not become very close as I do not have the role of supervising adult. Today I was sitting at my desk working way and the girl came up and tapped me on the shoulder and very politly asked to get her a drink. I said sure so we went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. I simply handed it to her and she so pleasantly said “Thank you” then walked away. Now, I am not sure if this was just simply routine for her or if she really meant it, but as an adult who was raised to always respect your elders and not experiencing that too much these days, it really stuck out. So, I guess I am saying to all the parents and guardians out there - teaching these simple manners are FULLY appreciated even if the child does not quite get the full impact of them…yet.
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