While watching a YouTube video for making vegetable soup, I saw the words “I Wish You a Good Mood” and thought, that’s a nice thing to read. It’s different. Maybe it’s a German-English translation for “Have a nice day” because I think the woman doing the videos is German.

But, you know me, always thinking, and this got me thinking for sure!

As I grew up, it was customary to say, “Have a nice day!” “Good morning, Sir!” or “Have a nice night!” We didn’t think much about it; it was a reflexive thing we did when interacting with people.

For the last few years, I’ve heard, “Have a good one,” (usually spoken in a mundane fashion like comedian Steven Wright.) It’s not too pleasant to hear it. It doesn’t make you feel good; it probably doesn’t make you feel anything. We move along with our day and don’t give it a second thought.

One day shopping at a local grocery store (now closed), I heard myself say to the cashier, “Thank you,” after she handed me the receipt. I heard nothing back. I had bagged my groceries and I was the one saying, “Thank you!” I was like, what? What am I being thankful for? A receipt? Then it started at other stores where I heard nothing after purchasing something and I was the only one saying, “Thank you.”  That’s how I roll, it’s something I’m used to saying. This became alarming though since I thought cashiers would receive customer service training, at least watch a video or see a PowerPoint presentation on the store’s laptop. I couldn’t believe getting a receipt and silence. Crickets were louder, and they were outside!

A few days ago, at a nearby dollar store, my guy and I were greeted by a non-greeting. Do you know what that is? That was when the one store employee heard the squeaky bottle of Mountain Dew being squeezed repeatedly because it was pretty funny to do (no kidding, that was their “bell to ring to get service” when no one was at the register). He walked over and said nothing, did not even make eye contact, even after my guy commented on the Mountain Dew dog chewie (must be) squeaker, and proceeded to ring up the items.

My guy and I thought the same thing as we exited the store and talked about it while walking home.  I went first, “Really? Nothin’?” Then my guy said, “I thought he’d say somethin’ after my repeated squeezes but nothin’.”

Yes, it is not uncommon today to walk into a store and get no acknowledgment at all. At a bigger store, I watched an older woman trying to talk to a young woman at customer service about why she was returning the item. The cashier had rolled her eyes at least five times, and she looked incredibly uninterested in hearing what the woman said. It looked like she didn’t care.  Nothing was going on behind the eyes. She was a robot dressed as a human being, handling the job in the most basic way, doing just enough not to get fired.

Then it was my turn with the young woman. I greeted her with a smile under my mask, and she didn’t see it (I was three weeks out from having Covid for the first time, and I was not going to let it get in me again!) But she wasn’t one of those people who could see smiles with her eyes. I think I could. My guy could see too. Not her. I took the item out of the bag that I was returning and gave her the receipt.  She took the receipt, scanned it, scanned the item, and gave me the return receipt, never asking if I wanted it back on the card or cash; she gave me cash which was fine, and never said a word the entire transaction. Of course, being of sound mind and with impeccable manners, I said, “Thank you, have a pleasant day,” when she gave me the receipt. And guess what? I heard nothing back.

Should we be concerned?

I go into stores and infrequently receive a “thank you.” I’ve done the surveys from receipts and wrote how it would be nice to be thanked for being a customer. Rarely, I might get a comment, “So how’s your day going so far? from a spunky guy who loves his job. My guy commented when that happened and said, “See, he likes his job, and it shows. It makes his day go better. He’s happier. Even if you hate your job, you have two choices, find a way to have fun doing it and make the most of it, or find another job.” It should be that simple. Some people are robots (my term for people running on auto-pilot, not being present), others may not have been taught manners and niceties, while maybe, our culture is becoming more dependent on a screen for social interaction than with a person standing right in front of them.  Ooo, I find the latter problematic.

We are humans, people! We are stronger than that to be chained to a screen for entertainment and to find value in our lives. Those of us who were raised to be decent human beings should share that wisdom and knowledge about manners and niceties because not everyone had an opportunity to learn that stuff. (I don’t believe it comes from the birth canal.)  Share the word “Thank you” and “Please.” Use the words yourself and let’s get them back into our culture and hopefully, into the psyche of young folks who are slowly (but surely) becoming a numb human race (my term for the younger generation’s lack of empathy, sympathy, and compassion.)

I know saying, “I wish you a good mood,” is odd to say, and I probably won’t be spreading that one around, but use anything nice but “Have a good one,” please! It’s not good at all. It shows me a lack of respect and awareness for how it comes across to the person at the receiving end.

Gosh, it doesn’t take much to be a good human. Be friendly (we are a social race), be nice, and be humble before being arrogant. It’s simple, so let’s try it!

I will still always wish creepy insects to go back to hell though. Haha

Thank you very much for reading this. It means so much to me that my words are being read. Seriously, it took me a long time to get here, sharing my words publically.

To hearing ‘Thank you” or even “I wish you a good mood” every single day,

Francesca