AP: You Ugly Americans, Always Expressing Gratitude and Saying “Thank You”

We fully expect the media to dump on every American holiday tradition for all the predictable hate-America reasons, and Thanksgiving is no different. In fact, the American left has been ramping up their hatred of Thanksgiving in recent years, calling it racist, and mocking those who thank a divine being for our blessings.

So, for this Thanksgiving, the Associated Press is stepping its game up, distributing a bizarre academic piece that criticizes the American customs of expressing gratitude and saying “Thank you.”

That’s correct. You bigoted Americans need to learn from other cultures and stop being so danged grateful. Also, stop being racist and offending people of other cultures by saying “Thank you.”

“What Americans can learn from other cultures about the language of gratitude”

Americans are known the world over for saying “thank you” in many everyday situations. Though some of these “thank yous” are undoubtedly heartfelt, many are also routine and said without much feeling. Given how often Americans say “thanks,” it might be surprising to know that in several other cultures around the world, people rarely say “thank you.”

No, I am not surprised that Americans are more polite than other cultures. I am only surprised that anyone could find politeness problematic.

In many relationships – for instance, between parents and children or between close friends – saying thank you is considered inappropriate in these countries because it introduces a sense of formality that takes away the intimacy of the relationship.

I can’t figure out what “a sense of formality that takes away the intimacy” means, but these academics are very bothered by your cultural insensitivity when you say the offensive words “Thank you.”

Every time we express gratitude, we invoke a social world. Often, we invoke a world without realizing its full force.

Being more conscious about our linguistic conventions and the potentials of our choices can empower us to create a world we really desire.

Learning from other languages of gratitude, perhaps we can make our “thank you” less casual and more heartfelt.

When you give thanks on Thursday, be grateful that you were taught the great American values of gratitude, politeness, and thanksgiving. We are all so blessed. It saddens me that so many Americans in media and academia will be stewing in their hatred and resentment about the great tradition of gratitude.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 01:30 PM

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