Common courtesy? Maybe not so common..

I've been making it a habit to say 'Thank you' to a lot of people..

1) my parents and family
for a million reasons hehe..

2) my friends
for another set of a million reasons. hihihih

3) the bus drivers
a habit I re-enforced when I was in the UK

4) the cleaner ladies at the office
one of whom I call 'nenek' coz she is one

5) strangers who open the doors, especially at shopping malls
sad to say, Malaysians rarely hold doors open for strangers. Malay guys (sorry, no offence to anyone, but trust me, this is way too obvious for me NOT to put it down here) especially those I've seen around are the worst lot. They more often prefer to let go of the doors behind them (kadang-kadang siap slam the doors lagi!). Nak pandang belakang and see if anyone needs to have the doors open? Jangan mimpi la. Unless they happen to notice that 'the anyone' is a drop dead gorgeous babe... LOLs..
I picked up the habit of holding doors open for strangers at the UK (hmm, and we call ourselves 'courteous'!!)

6) taxi drivers who are willing to take me to my destinations

Hmm.. ramai lagi whom I cannot think of at the moment. Hehe..


For me, saying 'thank you' is a common courtesy - a very simple one.

But I guess not everyone sees it like I do.

* * * * *

Recently I hailed a taxi and asked the driver (a man around 27 or so) if he could take me to KLCC. He said yes so I slided in and said "Terima kasih" (translate: "Thank you") the moment I was seated.

He actually seemed surprised and turned his head to look at me and said: "Kenapa cakap terima kasih? Belum sampai lagi KLCC!" (translate: "Why are you saying thank you? We haven't reached KLCC!").

I was speechless for about 3 seconds and then told him: "Terima kasih lah.. Sebab sudi ambik saya dan pergi KLCC" (loosely translate: I said thank you.. because you're willing to take me to KLCC).
(Oh btw, I actually DID use the word 'sudi' ahahahhaah! Yeah.. It surprised the heck out of me too!)


And the other day I boarded a Rapid Bus (hehe.. the RM2 bus) to work. When the bus has stopped and I was about to alight from the bus, I looked at the driver and said (rather loudly la) "Terima kasih!". I noticed a couple who were sitting near the door just looked at me with a weird expression. Probably they don't usually hear anyone thanking bus drivers eh? Hehe..

* * * * *

Hmm.. I'm not saying I'm such a goody-goody girl, LOLs.. I'm most certainly AM NOT! I guess.. I just feel thankful that someone has helped me achieve something, and as such that person ought to be appreciated.
For me, a simple 'thank you' is sometimes not enough, but if that's all I could afford to offer, then by all means I would definitely say those words.

Maybe common courtesy is not so common anymore...?

Ntah lah..