Just want to thank you

It's an old theme, as old as humanity itself, but it's never outdated. And, if truth were known, it's not overused either.

Thanksgiving's the same annual routine for our family...prior to passing 'round the turkey and potatoes and in place of our customary prayer of thanks before eating, we recite the usual list of things for which we should be grateful (and we should be!). In case you haven't got your list ready, here are a few suggestions: family, friends, our freedom (including the opportunity to express our political preferences), daily food, and the level of services we enjoy. And, as we say every year, those are blessings we need to acknowledge more often.

These past several years I've changed my approach to the topic a bit. It's simple and there probably are thousands or millions of other people who do the same thing but here's my strategy: look for opportunities to thank someone for something that's often overlooked. I'm not sure what I enjoy most about doing that - the shock that sometimes crosses the recipient's face or the warm glow that I feel inside for encouraging someone else.

Here's the most recent example: while attending a conference hosted at a prestigious hotel in Vancouver, I took note of the server at our table. Although the level of service was to be expected, I waited until he bent over to remove a used dish in front of me then quickly took the opportunity to whisper to him, “Thank you, you're doing a great job!” As quickly, he whispered back, “Thanks so much, this is my first day and I'm trying to do everything right.” We didn't speak again and perhaps it's just my imagination, but it seemed he smiled more easily.

“Thanks for a job well done!” Who in your world needs to hear that?