Let's start with a story - You are in a busy mall with a friend and it's too loud and you are barely able to talk. All you see everywhere is the rush of the Christmas BUMPER SALE. Showrooms are swarmed with girls collecting all they can grab and with boys waiting outside the try room to give a reaction on the newly tried dress. Then suddenly you are pulled into a showroom that's boasting 75% FLAT discount (how they manage that discount is still a mystery). Anyways, you notice a doorman who mostly without even looking at you, opens the door in the most machine like manner (work as usual). Then you say "Thank you" to him and he throws a dry smile back at you and let's you in.
On your way out you say "thank you" again and this time he looks up with a big smile and a lot more life in his otherwise mechanical action and opens the door for you. You smile back.
I usually say thank you to everyone, it has become a habit now. What I started noticing after this incident was how many people say 'thank you' and it is a completely personal observation that I found none. ZERO...
These two words changed things for me a lot of times. However today I just want to talk about the gratitude it gives you back. I tried talking to a few doormen and janitors (some were completely uninterested) and found out that it gave them a sense of pride in their otherwise petty job (as per them). When someone said 'thank you' or smiled back, they felt respected and motivated.
One of the metro janitors Satish at dwarka sector 12 metro station said "sir mujhe jab koi thank you bolta hai toh mujhe lagta hai main Modi ji ka kaam kar raha hu" he was referring to the Swachchh Bharat mission.
In one of the cases where I was at the other end, I picked up an empty water bottle and a lays packet from the road and threw it in a bin nearby. A guy from somewhere came and said "thank you". It made my day, I smiled back and thought about Satish and a few others who do this job everyday with an underlying wish to be respected and appreciated.
Let us all genuinely start thanking the unsung people we meet daily. From the guy who cleans our car, to the guard who opens the society gate for you, to the office boy, who helps you with daily stuff, to our colleagues who do things for us and never ask a thing back, to our family which gives us never ending love and support.
A few interesting ways in which you can say thank you are:-
- Cook a meal for someone
- Gift an ebook with a personal note
- My favorite - Write a personal note/letter if you can
Don't just say thank you, mean it. Thank you for reading :)
You can write back at prateek@polldance.in or tweet
@prateeb11
