THE POWER OF SAYING ‘THANK YOU’

I was on a sponsored trip to some country in the far east. And they took us around a number of their cities. I remember we went to a particular city where they had a beautiful man-made lake. In the middle of that man-made lake was an island with a huge elongated pond with beautiful, bright coloured fish. The whole thing was a beauty of a sight. The fish would race for food and the sight of the movement was eye-catching.

Anyway, to get to the island of this man-made lake, we boarded a boat, similar to a cruise ship, except of a much smaller size. On the boat, the group chatted, laughed and made some joyful noise. They chatted with the guide and everyone seemed to have real fun; except one man – the driver of the boat. He said nothing; he didn’t smile – he just drove the boat. It was as if what made others happy, made him sad.

We came back from the island by the same boat. People got off the boat, and as I was about to do the same, I turned around to the boatman, and said in their language, “Thank you”. He looked at me with a priceless smile and answered back. He looked really pleased. It did not cost me anything.

How often do we turn to say ‘Thank you’ to that waiter, cook, cleaner, teacher, etc? When you go home this half term, before you get off that vehicle, that bus or that plane, turn around and say ‘Thank you’. A ‘Thank you’ can make somebody’s day, and it will cost you nothing.

DR H.C.T. GONDWE

Deputy Headmaster (Pastoral)