After a second helping of the Christmas dinner lasagna, I felt as round as the blow-up snowman on our deck that stoically waves to passersby.  I adjusted my stuffed body on the couch and grumbled, “I designate 2012 as the year of not saying Thank You.”

Now, I know I’m not an etiquette queen, but jeeze, do folks no longer find it necessary to simply utter “thank you” once in a while?  Are thank you notes a thing of the past?  Heck, one can even email a gratitude in less than 10-seconds. Make it 3-seconds and text an emoticon.  Facebook works too.  Thank you is the  art of re-gifting.

In this over-the-top busy world I’m easily flattered by kind words or surprise gifts.  So much so that I either turn slightly embarrassed by my excited drool and attempt to brush off the compliment, or I transform into a gushing thank you geyser.  But thank you will come forth, regardless.  This, however, doesn’t earn me a crown.  In fact, I’m sure I’ve missed plenty of thank you re-gifting opportunities in the past.

If you are reading this blog, you are not of the no-thank-you crowd.  This probably does not apply to you.

But of those folks who received a good deal of energy and time from either myself or spouse and have yet to acknowledge our efforts, did they  expect this freely-given time as a matter of principle?  Be mindful that I am not looking for plaques, certificates or  adulation.  A simple thank you works wonders, however.

And I wonder if those folks who received a gift via post from me, hated the gift or wish that the gift wasn’t sent in the first place, because, I never received a thank you or blank-you note.

Yes, I am whining!  And I know I’m not the only person paddling upstream here.  An unplanned recent conversation with several other persons, proclaimed the same sentiment.  One woman, who I know spends most of her time giving, confidentially admitted, “I give for the love of giving, and I give because I can.  But would a little thank you note kill them?”

This lament determines my resolution for 2013:  I will thank everyone–for even the most simple kind deed.  Perhaps, along with the amazing generosity of our society, those two words will bring our tiny spaces a smile and a sense of worth that eventually births more goodwill.