Roxanne Henke

I get it. We’re all busy. But, since when have we become too busy to genuinely say “thank you?”

I see it all the time. Next time you’re at a restaurant, pay attention to the tables around you. Watch how often the people being served say “thanks” to the person serving them. It’s as if the hard-working server is invisible.

I doubt that’s the way most of us were raised, but it seems to be a trend these days. If people don’t get the treatment they think they deserve, they aren’t afraid to speak up. There’s actually a name for that attitude: annoyed entitlement.

This past July, one question stopped everyone in their tracks. “To whom do you wish you had said, ‘I love you,’ and never did?” Oh, goodness, this was way beyond the usual softball questions we normally bat around. There was a long silence, then one person, through tears, mentioned a grandma who’d passed away. Another talked about his biological father who he never had much of a relationship with until his father was on his deathbed. And then it was my turn.

With most questions I’m asked, I rarely have a one-word answer. My replies usually come in a story, and here’s mine: