Do we thank people so little?

Within the last 24 hours a simple thank you has been taken to be a complaint. This makes me very sad - do we receive thanks so little that we automatically assume someone is complaining?

Whilst in the supermarket yesterday I thanked one of the ladies stocking the shelves. It was a thankless task as the produce disappeared as soon as they'd put it out. It was very busy as for many of us it was the first day out for over 2 weeks due to snow and ice. I made a point of thanking one of them saying we appreciated their efforts on keeping the shelves stocked. The lady automatically replied "we're trying our best" in a tone that best suited perhaps earlier complaints about empty shelves.

Unfortunately I had to call the house insurance company this morning and they said someone might not be able to call me until Monday to sort it out. When I received a call 30 minutes later I again thanked them for the hard work in keeping up to date with what must be a huge increase in calls. Again the answer was "we're trying our best" in a similar tone.

It has to be said that thanks made to refuse collectors when collecting the bins, in a local park and at the side of road earlier in the year all received a shocked responses as they finally registered that a member of the public was thanking them for the work they do.

Who have you thanked today?

Alison

Enabling purchasing relationship to show appreciation