The demise of "Thank You" (a rant)

I considered all three of those options and I decided on the last.    

 

And the correct response to "Thank You" is, "You're Welcome".

Not, "No problem". I hate that with a passion. It's like nails on a chalkboard.

 

I tend to prefer, "My pleasure." A bit more personal, and it makes it sound like you actually wanted to help them.

 

This is going to come as a surprise to some people, but the other day, I was complimented on my gentlemanly nature. My wife and I were going out for a ride and we said hello to our neighbor, who was sitting outside. I went around to open the door for my wife, at which point our neighbor says "Oh my goodness, how gallant!" and went into this rant about how nobody ever opens a door for her. I felt bad for her, especially since this has been ingrained in me for as long as I can remember. You open the car door for a woman. If my father ever saw me open the door myself and then lean over to open the door for my wife, he'd slap me upside the head.

I will be the first to admit I am AWFUL about thank you cards. I'm a procrastinator by nature, so you can imagine how long those things pile up. My mom was rabid about reminding my sister and I to write cards immediately after receiving gifts as kids, but it only stuck with my sister. When I got married, it took me months to write thank you cards. The whole time, my mom, like Ray Barone's mom, harrangued me about how I had to write the thank yous because so-and-so was asking if I got the gift.

My sister, the goddamn overachiever that she is, wrote them as soon as she returned from her honeymoon. Apparently, Ballscribe is the same way.    

If I see you in person or talk to you on the phone, I'll thank you profusely for the gift. I'm just awful about writing it out. Oh the irony.

As for people not saying thank you for common everyday courtesies, I hate that. Had it happen today. Was walking out of a building, held the door open twice for an older woman behind me and didn't get any acknowledgment. Told her to see me next tuesday (after I got in the car, of course).  

 

Yes, and you're just going to have to deal with it. ;D

Saying please and thank-you was drilled into my head as a kid, and we've done the same to our child. We often hear, from other parents, how courteous mini-micro is. Well, it's not brain surgery, it's called parenting.

 

BYNeut, I had the car-door thing drilled into my head too. It's not even a chivalry thing -- it's just *that's what you do*, whether it's your S.O., or your mother, or someone else's mother, or a friend, or a chick just along for the ride. *That's what you do*. Open her door, then go around see if she passes the Door Test and open your own.

I guess the same applies to please and thank you, too. *That's what you do*. No need to make a scene out of it, just say it and that's it.

But thank you cards ... eh, we'll see. Ain't hitched yet, so I don't know about that one. Now, I write them when I really, really want to go overboard with the thank you to somebody. But anybody else, I thank them the next time I talk to them or see them.

 

I think holding the door ONLY for women... is more latent chauvinism than chivalry.

 

This from the psycho who probably hasn't seen a vagina in person since birth.

 

Agreed.

 

I did mean holding the door open... my mistake.

 

My new tact:

When a drive-thru moron doesn't say thank you, I make a point of asking for more napkins. Oh, and pepper. Oh, and straws. Oh, and salt. Can I get some more dipping sauce? This doesn't taste like diet! The more I bother them, the better I feel.

Man, I'm an ass.

 

Dyno, thanks for starting this thread.

And I hold the door for anyone, but if I ever tried to open the car door for my girlfriend, she'd punch me in the nuts.