The importance and value of saying ‘thank you.’

Saying thank you is often under rated yet is critical to wellbeing

In a world I fractured by social media fuelled rage, saying ‘thank you’ has gone out of fashion, or so I thought.

I’m one of about 8,000 members of a Facebook auction site for my model making hobby. The people running the site do a bang up job, attracting sellers offering a broad variety of kits and equipment on a near weekly basis.

Each auction, which usually lists about 100 items, runs on Facebook time, ending at a specific point according to what the auction operators ‘see.’ There are occasions when bids are delivered after the auction closes. It can be frustrating when you think that a bid was posted on time and find out it wasn’t but we accept the auctioneer has the final word.

Once an auction is concluded, winners are notified within an hour and usually receive their goods inside 48-72 hours of payment. Right now, that delivery period might be extended but by and large, it works.

There are occasions when things go wrong but the auction operators quickly resolve issues, often without debate.

After each auction, a few folk will say something along the lines of: ‘item xxx arrived safely.’ On rare occasions, someone will get antsy when something doesn’t work out.

But as we close out a 2022, which for many has been awful, it struck me that it would be nice to say a public thank you for the work the auction operators have done throughout the year.

As I’m digitally penning this and about 15 hours after posting, more than 275 people have reacted positively. There are 75 comments and not a single gripe.

So yes, saying thanks still has meaning and value. In turn I hope it brings a sense of worth.