Parents and teachers spend a lot of time reminding children to say please and thank you. Please, thank you and sorry all can have a profound affect on a person. They can have the power to open your heart and heal your wounds.
Many languages do not stop at please or thank you. In German after you have said Danke you will receive a smile and a Bitte. In French, Merci will elicit je vous en prie, in Italian Grazie will get a prego. Americans will follow thank you with you're welcome.
Let's face all these expressions and polite words make life better, they make us feel better about each other.
We don't always practice what we preach though and yesterday I was reminded of this by the sweetest three year old in the world.
We were both engrossed in the quest of Dory to find his mum and dad and I absently mindedly lent over to take some popcorn from her carton. Her little voice was low in the darkness of the cinema,
'You can have some of my popcorn, help yourself', well it wasn't meant as a reproach, quite the opposite, it was an invitation to help myself, but it made me aware that I hadn't asked.
From then on bits of popcorn were pushed gently into my mouth at regular intervals, what more can I say, total bliss.
That is so true, Angela. A simple courtesy word can simply make the day better altogether. Your little 3year old has them all embedded in her small person though. Lovely!
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