I wouldn’t consider myself a difficult person. Or a judgmental one, for that matter. I’m pretty easy going, “each to their own” and so on.
But there’s one thing that really gets me riled up and I’ve kept it to myself until now: when people use the word “ta”.
I’m not talking about mums who use it when talking to their children. That is the exception to the rule. Saying “taaaa” to try and get your toddler to hand over your lipstick before she smudges it across the walls is understandable.
Saying a flippant “ta” when a fully grown adult holds a door open for you or helps you out in some way is not so understandable.
Any time someone says it to me I physically feel my insides recoil and have to fight the urge to yell back “THAT’S NOT HOW YOU THANK SOMEONE.”
I used to work in retail, so maybe that’s where my issue with the word “ta” comes from. I would spend long shifts giving people styling advice and re-hanging the clothes they had dumped on fitting room floors to only receive a passing “ta” at the end of it all.
It’s not the sort of response that makes me feel genuinely valued or appreciated. It’s dismissive- it makes me feel like that person barely cares enough to thank me in a genuine way.
I know “ta” isn’t necessarily used with that intention- sorry to my boss and mother who both use this word frequently- but that doesn’t change how it makes me feel.
Saying “thank you” might be an extra syllable and take an extra half second, but it conveys a lot more meaning that “ta” ever will.
It also means I’m more likely to keep holding doors open for you. Just something to think about.