America needs us to use two words a little more

You may not have noticed, but Americans aren’t as nice as they used to be. Perhaps a presidential candidate needs to run in 2020 with the slogan Make America Nice Again. Perhaps they could put it on a fedora or flowery hat instead of a tacky hat that looks like something you’d buy from a truck stop at 2 a.m.

Perhaps it’s because Americans now throw around words like libtard, nazi, crooked, fake, lying, snowflake, demoncrat, moron and idiot just a little too much these days. This country is so politically polarized that folks on the left and right can’t seem to have a reasonable, peaceful discussion anymore.

But I think two words could be used a little more often to make life a little better in this country. No, not “fake news” or “witch hunt” — those words are used plenty. I mean the words “thank you.”

I was in the grocery store recently, and a lady was going down the frozen dessert aisle in one of those scooter thingamajiggies. She was obviously in terrible physical shape and there was no way she was going to be able to get one of the whipped toppings she was eying fairly high up in the freezer. So, I stopped for a moment to get one for her.

She wanted one with the fewest carbs because she was diabetic. I got a couple different ones and we checked out the carbohydrates on the back. We found one with the fewest, so I put a couple of those in her basket as she requested. Then she drove off.

She offered no “thank you” or “gracias” or “merci.” Not even a “uh-huh.” Nothing. Now, I don’t need to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, nor do I need a pat on the back for a tiny good deed, but is a simple “thank you” too much to ask in that situation.

I’ve held doors open for folks at stores only to have them march right through as I waited without saying a word as if they were royalty or something. When they fail to utter a simple “thank you” or at least nod or give me a glance of appreciation, I’m sure to give them a hearty vocal “You’re welcome!” If they seem particularly snotty, they might get a “You’re welcome, your highness!”

If someone stops their vehicle in a parking lot or roadway for you to cross, give them a little wave of gratitude — and hurry along, too. If someone lets you cut in front of them during a traffic jam, give them a thankful wave. If you drop something and another person picks it up and hands it to you, say “thank you.” This really isn’t that complicated.

Those are the simple gestures of gratitude that I thought folks like Mister Rogers taught us decades ago. Perhaps too many of us have forgotten and need to watch some reruns of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” My personal favorite is the one when King Friday thanked Henrietta Pussycat for gunning down Daniel Striped Tiger when he tried to hijack Trolley in the Land of Make-Believe. I think Fred Rogers might have lost a finger in that episode as it was very realistic.

But it’s the deeper thank-yous that this country really needs. We’ve gotten pretty good at thanking our armed forces, perhaps because we still feel bad about how so many Vietnam vets were treated. But there are many more people to whom we need to direct sincere gratitude.

We should thank the teachers who changed our lives, the cops who put their lives on the line with every split-second decision being challenged now by instant replay and the folks who do the dirty jobs we don’t want. We all know folks who went to their grave without getting the thank-you from us that they deserved. We can’t change that.

But we can challenge ourselves to thank someone, anyone, every single day. It doesn’t take much effort to show a little gratitude, and no matter how selfless we are in serving others, we can stand to be shown a little appreciation. Thank someone today. And tomorrow.

Thank you for reading.

This story was originally published July 16, 2018 at 1:58 PM.