‘Thank You’ and ‘Sorry’; My greatest takeaways from America

If you’re wondering what’s the big deal about these two words, believe me you’ve landed just at the right post and I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading about what I call my two greatest takeaways from America.

Is it a cultural thing, or personal? I can't say for sure. Our life is all about the“expressed” and the “implied”. A mother loves her kids, parents earn a living for the family, teachers and professors impart education, so on and so forth - All these are examples of “implied” deeds that we assume people have to do for us. Thus, whether we express our gratitude or not, it’s assumed we’re thankful.

Hold on, wait a minute! Do you think this is enough? Adequate? Sufficient?

I thought so, just before I landed on the shores of America and boy! What an incredible aspect of life was I missing…and how!

As a youngster, filled with dreams in my eyes I landed in Los Angeles, one of the most beautiful places on the planet. (By the way, if you’re in LA right now, feel blessed!)

My cultural shook-up started when the immigration officer at LAX checked my papers, asked a couple of questions, passed a smile and said, “Welcome to America, Thank you, next in line please”. It’s been exactly ten years but I have the incident fresh in my mind, etched for a lifetime I guess. So, what was wrong with me? Any guesses?

I thought, aren’t government officials always meant to be grumpy? Cranky? When was the last time I heard a officer say ‘Thank You’ even though I actually didn't do him a favor by landing up at his door at 2:30 in the night. Especially, in India, we rather have a heart attack than hear a thank you from an official.

That’s when I realized I was up for a real change (Read: Cultural shock) and the next two years that followed, transformed me for good!

For every small gesture, for even the tiniest of help extended, I heard Americans express gratitude. That’s when I realized that we needed to get rid of ‘implied’ and ‘assumed’ and start expressing, start acknowledging and stop complaining. Expressing our happiness if someone does something for us, isn't difficult at all, believe me.

A smile costs nothing, but its healing power is remarkable. If you’re thankful towards someone, say it with a smile! If you feel you’ve hurt someone, intentionally or otherwise, say ‘Sorry’! It’s the most powerful human emotion that you can exhibit and the greatest of grudges calm down on hearing this pleasant word.

My parents visited me and were quite surprised to see the changes in me. I returned back to my country a transformed personality.

Life has changed; Saying ‘thank you’ to the taxi driver, the guy who fills up my gas tank, the waiter at my favorite Chinese restaurant, my car mechanic, that helpful co-worker helping me with the lousy photocopier machine, the housekeeping lady at the hotel etc etc; All of this has become a habit. A lot of times people turn back and look at me in disbelief, because they don’t expect to be acknowledged for doing their jobs properly. I hope this changes, and soon.

It’s important, very, very, very important. Especially in the corporate world, it’s critical for us to be thankful towards our peers, mentors and associates. There’s no sweeter voice than a “Thank You” when you’re heading home from office. Teams that stick together for longer hauls exhibit such professional traits and eventually achieve results.

The same way, expressing ‘Sorry’ doesn't make you look small, infact, it makes your personality more appealing, acceptable and charming. Apologizing makes you stronger from within and outside. It tells people that you realize your shortcoming, accepted it, corrected it and moved on to the next challenge.

I hope to be a successful corporate professional and my takeaways will help us all in this thrilling journey.

A big "Thank You" for reading my post.

You can find me on Twitter: @vishalg82 or visit my LinkedIn page here