Is saying "Thank you" to workers going away...

[gate_pourri]

The last few weeks, I've noticed a strange trend. More than once, when I say "thank you" to a service worker, they seem confused by my thank you or overly appreciative. Is saying Thank You going the wayside?

To explain a bit more, I tend to say 'thank you' a lot. To the lady who is directing rush hour traffic threw the Chicago loop, dealing with both pedestrians who refuse to wait for their turn to cross the street and cars who are honking, if I walk by close enough, I say a quick thank you (for keeping me safe). For the gentleman tonight who quickly came to me in the self checkout line to check my ID for buying wine, when all was done and I was leaving the store, I say a quick 'thank you' and smiled as I walked by. To the gentleman who is washing the street with a powerhose, who stops the hose and smiles as I walk by, I saw smile in return and say "thank you".

Maybe these are jobs which people don't expect a "Thank you", but for me, to say "thank you" costs nothing on my end, shows my appreciation for them, and is just polite. Maybe it was the way I was raised... but of the three examples I posted above, all three seemed surprised by the "thank you". Two of them said something to the effect of "oh no, thank you..." and the another just looked at me like I was a crazy woman.

So, is the random "thank you" going away...

On another tyrant, I think "good mornings" are going away as well. Ugh!

 

[scrapquitler]

I've noticed that when I shop, the cashier NEVER says "Thank you" to me anymore, either. Back when I worked as a cashier (in the dark ages, according to my teenager), we would get called out by our supervisor if she ever failed to hear us say "Thank you" to a customer.

 

[acourtwdw]

I am a veteran Retail employee and it's not very often that customers say "Thank you". Trust me when I say, we are surprised by it. Also, why don't people say "good bye" on the phone anymore? Just curious....

 

[C.Ann]

If it is, it shouldn't be.. Unfortunately, "I'm sorry" isn't too big these days either..

 

[descovy]

Oh, as a cashier, I say "thank you" all day long. But most people are too pre-occupied with their cell phone to notice

I'm with you, I say thank you to service people. If for nothing else, to acknowledge we are both human beings. All I can say, it gets lonely day working after day being around customers who choose to wilfully ignore you while you are expected to be cheerful and helpful.

If I can do my part as a customer to not be one of the many "too self-absorbed to care" then I will!

***

Sorry I had a hard day today. had a customer leave a complaint about me for being condecending. She was on her cell phone and trying to ask me questions/ give me orders (and talk to her friend on the phone) at the same time. I couldn't tell when she was talking to me and when she was talking to her phone friend, and I said so.

 

[C.Ann]

Oh, as a cashier, I say "thank you" all day long. But most people are too pre-occupied with their cell phone to notice

I'm with you, I say thank you to service people. If for nothing else, to acknowledge we are both human beings. All I can say, it gets lonely day working after day being around customers who choose to wilfully ignore you while you are expected to be cheerful and helpful.

If I can do my part as a customer to not be one of the many "too self-absorbed to care" then I will!

***

Sorry I had a hard day today. had a customer leave a complaint about me for being condecending. She was on her cell phone and trying to ask me questions/ give me orders (and talk to her friend on the phone) at the same time. I couldn't tell when she was talking to me and when she was talking to her phone friend, and I said so.

So a complaint was lodged against you because she was being downright rude?? Unbelievable..

Sorry you had such a rough day - and sorry you have to deal with people who are so self-absorbed they can't even acknowledge you when you're polite enough to say "thank you"..

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I've wondered the same thing.

A few months ago I noticed the following pattern at the drive through. (This happened more than once).

"I'd like a chicken nugget happy meal, with water for the drink, a double cheeseburger plain and a large diet coke".

(repeats back order perfectly, asks me if I'd like to make the cheeseburger into a "meal", then says "That will be $some unbelievable sum. Please pull up"

I say "Thank you"

She says "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that, can I get you something else."

And I say "No, I just said "thank you".

"Ma'am, I'm afraid I can't understand you, would you mind pulling up to the window.

Now, clearly, she deserves credit for being polite, but the only thing I can figure is that she never hears thank you. Because if every customer said thank you she'd be able to figure out what I was likely saying right?

So, I pull up, she apologized AGAIN, and I say, Oh no, don't apologize I was just saying "Thank you" and she kind of laughs and says "you're welcome".

It made me sad, to think that she's so unused to being thanked that she wouldn't have a clue what I was saying.

 

[gate_pourri]

I am a veteran Retail employee and it's not very often that customers say "Thank you". Trust me when I say, we are surprised by it. Also, why don't people say "good bye" on the phone anymore? Just curious....

That is so sad... A "thank you" costs nothing but a brief breath and shows that we are all humans and appreciate each other. I can be a... ah... pain... at times and know others can be too, but don't understand this lack of common courtesy.

Sorry I had a hard day today. had a customer leave a complaint about me for being condecending. She was on her cell phone and trying to ask me questions/ give me orders (and talk to her friend on the phone) at the same time. I couldn't tell when she was talking to me and when she was talking to her phone friend, and I said so.

You have nothing to be sorry about! It is crazy that you get written up for a rude customer. I admit to have talked on the phone while going through a check out on occasion, but I always say a quick "sorry" during the transaction and, if I need to hold a conversation with the cashier, I put my call on hold and speak to the cashier.

 

[moose.]

i, too, have noticed that people rarely say "thank you" anymore and i'm only 21! i think people just expect the work to be done for them so a "thank you" would be unnecessary. another thing, though, that really bugs me is when people don't say "you're welcome". oh my gosh. it is not "no problem", "you bet" or "uh huh", its "you're welcome". drives me crazy.

 

[redlight]

I say thank you.

 

[Becky2005]

Also, why don't people say "good bye" on the phone anymore? Just curious....

Because for some bizarre reason I always end with "Talk to you later" if it's a family member/personal call. No one else does this and it's not how I was taught, somewhere along the line I just started doing it. If it's more business stuff, then it's usually "OK, Thank You" (since I've usually gotten an answer to a question).

I work retail so always try to say Thank You, Have a Good Day when done with a transaction. I'm never quite sure what to respond to Thank You from the customer because "You're Welcome" sounds weird to me in a retail setting where you are the customer & I'm doing my job (which part of is to thank you for buying our stuff). Sounds weird to me to say "You're Welcome" for me doing my job vs. when doing something to be polite like holding open a door for someone.

 

[mommasita]

I hope not. I say "Thank You" to everyone, and "Have a good day" right after that.

DD11 told me a month ago that she wishes everyone was so jovial as me. She now does it, and it makes me

I love it when I hear it, and as odd as it sounds, it makes me smile to say it. Even days when i am . Even more so then actually.

 

[mommasita]

Because for some bizarre reason I always end with "Talk to you later" if it's a family member/personal call. No one else does this and it's not how I was taught, somewhere along the line I just started doing it. If it's more business stuff, then it's usually "OK, Thank You" (since I've usually gotten an answer to a question).

I work retail so always try to say Thank You, Have a Good Day when done with a transaction. I'm never quite sure what to respond to Thank You from the customer because "You're Welcome" sounds weird to me in a retail setting where you are the customer & I'm doing my job (which part of is to thank you for buying our stuff). Sounds weird to me to say "You're Welcome" for me doing my job vs. when doing something to be polite like holding open a door for someone.

I say "It has been my absolute pleasure" in answer to that. I tried to bold it, but I am not so good.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

I'm a big thanker, and so are my kiddos. It's funny I'm reading this thread today -- just last night, I was at Sheetz, and the cashier never said a word to me, even just handed me the receipt and immediately began talking to another cashier. Normally, they're very friendly there -- crazy friendly! -- but this guy consistently blows off customers. But I think he's just got bad manners overall. He's always gossiping with his co-workers while ringing up customers. A while ago, his co-worker was telling him he wanted to go see Inception. This cashier told him (as he was finishing up my order), "Oh, no, no. See something else. You have to be really intelligent to get anything out of that. I saw it and even I had trouble understanding it."

 

[Jennasis]

I actually thank my employees at the end of each day.

I always end phone calls with "Good Bye".

 

[punkin]

i, too, have noticed that people rarely say "thank you" anymore and i'm only 21! i think people just expect the work to be done for them so a "thank you" would be unnecessary. another thing, though, that really bugs me is when people don't say "you're welcome". oh my gosh. it is not "no problem", "you bet" or "uh huh", its "you're welcome". drives me crazy.

Ooohhhh that one drives me crazy.......

 

[pickles521]

Total thread highjack here:

I'm a big thanker, and so are my kiddos. It's funny I'm reading this thread today -- just last night, I was at Sheetz...

<snipped>

I read this whole thread and was going to respond, but when I saw Sheetz - I got sidetracked. We recently moved from PA to TN, and man do we miss Sheetz! Have a shmonster on a pretzel roll for me. Those sandwiches were about the only fast food we ate and we miss them so much. Oh! then have some of those peanut butter no bake cookies for dessert! YUUUUUMMMM!

I didn't realize Sheetz were that far south. I thought they were pretty centered on PA, though I have seen one in MD and one in WV. Learn something new every day!!

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread. Thank you for your time.

 

[mhsjax]

i, too, have noticed that people rarely say "thank you" anymore and i'm only 21! i think people just expect the work to be done for them so a "thank you" would be unnecessary. another thing, though, that really bugs me is when people don't say "you're welcome". oh my gosh. it is not "no problem", "you bet" or "uh huh", its "you're welcome". drives me crazy.

Then I would have you in the funny farm. I say it frequently. Sometimes I say your welcome but a lot of the time I say no problem. I guess it really depends on the circumstance, if a cashier says thank you, I say your welcome. If a friend of mine or a friend of my daughter says something like Thank you for the ride, I say no problem. No biggie to me.

 

[MIGrandma]

I think most forms of common courtesy are going by the wayside.

As a waitress it always amazed me that some customers never said "please" or "thank you" for anything. And thus they were teaching their children to be the same way. Sad.

As a customer in a restaurant I say "please" and "thank you" a lot to my server. Make eye contact with them. Smile. Let them know I appreciate their hard work. Same for in retail stores, or fast food places. And it always amazes me the workers that never say "thank you" as you're leaving. What happened to "thank you for shopping at ______ today."

 

[mhsjax]

I love it when you are leaving a place, and you hold the door open for the person behind you and they walk through it like they are royalty and you are expected to do so and without so much as a thank you.

My DS loves to hold the door, and most people especially the older people with smile and make eye contact and say thank you or something really sweet to him. However, he as well as my other kids, have gotten stuck holding the door for numerous people. One time I counted and I swear 15 people kept coming through the door. Most of them didn't even look down,(he is very short) let alone say thank you. AFter about the 12th person, I told him to let the door go, he didn't want to but after a few more people passed, (they were in a large group together) I dragged him off and let the door just about hit the person in the face. Her is the real kicker, It was at church.

I can only take so much rudeness before I will fight back, especially when it comes to my kids. I try so hard to teach them manners and I will be darned if I let people walk all over them because they are young.