{"id":99,"date":"2010-11-22T02:20:35","date_gmt":"2010-11-22T02:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog?p=99"},"modified":"2010-12-29T22:07:23","modified_gmt":"2010-12-30T03:07:23","slug":"thanks-giving-and-receiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/2010\/11\/22\/thanks-giving-and-receiving\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanks Giving and Receiving"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Every year at this time, besides focusing my gratitude to God for His blessings, the philologist in me unavoidably reflects on our use of \u201cThanks\u201d in our culture. Specifically I have noticed that the response we all were taught, when someone says, \u201cThank you,\u201d has fallen into disuse.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of us were taught \u201cPlease,\u201d \u201cThank you,\u201d and \u201cYou\u2019re Welcome,\u201d as strictly as ABCs and 1-2-3s. I do a little private survey each year to see how \u201cYou\u2019re Welcome\u201d is becoming an extinct phrase. Try it yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past week, in shops, post offices, and banks, I tracked 24 times I said \u201cThank you.\u201d I received only one \u201cYou\u2019re Welcome\u201d in reply. Among the substitutes were \u201cYup,\u201d \u201cOK,\u201d \u201cNo problem,\u201d \u201cHey, no prob,\u201d \u201cYou got it,\u201d\u00a0 \u201cSure thing,\u201d and \u201cYou bet.\u201d The most common reply was \u201cThank YOU.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I always cast broader attention across the cultural landscape, to radio and television. Of 17 examples I recorded, I heard one person, correspondent Malini Wilkes, of FOX News, say \u201cYou\u2019re Welcome.\u201d The speakers ranged from major news figures on NPR to callers and hosts on sports radio WFAN in New York. Also celebrities from my notebook since last Thanksgiving (once you notice this, it\u2019s hard to stop noticing):<\/span><\/p>\n

In July, President Obama was interviewed by Yonit Levi of Israeli TV:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Q: President Barack Obama, shalom, and thank you so much for talking with us today.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The President: Thank you. Thank you very much.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

And at the end of this interview:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Q: Thank you so much, Mr. President.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The President: Thank you. I enjoyed it. Take care.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Things were not different when, a few months earlier, Obama was interviewed by the pan-Arabic media site Al Arabiya:<\/span><\/p>\n