One thing that sticks out about travelling in Vancouver is how people say thank you when leaving the bus. I mean no matter how crowded the bus is or how late it is, you always hear those two words as a passenger exits. Even if the driver can’t hear them, they say it. It’s as if there is a bond between passenger and driver that’s kept together by two words. I have really been impressed by Vancouver’s civility; people get up for older passengers, hold doors open for you at restaurants, let you go first if you were there first, say good morning and good afternoon and behave in a normal civilised way. Habits that we have lost in Trinidad. (maybe less so in Tobago)
Just like how on the job we don’t say enough thank yous. Is it that we adopt the stance that we are paying you to work so “what do we have to thank you for?” I saw the power of thank yous when I worked at KFC in T&T and Canada. It was a key part of a recognition culture that made the workplace nicer and helped improve company results; so it is possible to do it even if you’re the only one doing it. Thank you works. On the job and on the bus.
