Thanks for Hanging Out

Recently after hanging out with a friend they turned to me and said “thanks for hanging out.” Which is a seemingly harmless statement, which, for some reason, provoked a firework display of thoughts in my brain. The main thing it reminded me of was of myself a year ago when I said that very same phrase to a friend. Their response was quite enlightening: “Brooke, you know you shouldn’t have to thank me each time we hang out, I hang out with you because I want to not because I have to.”

I could just over thinking this comment, but after this response I have stopped thanking people for hanging out. Yet, should we thank people for hanging out? They are taking their time, energy and often time resources to invest time in our lives. Is this “thank you” just an implied non-verbal thing that we never say but we should assume people are saying to us? Shouldn’t we show gratitude for the people we have in your lives?

I may just be bias as I think that we have become an over grateful society, apologizes and thanks run so rapid they seem to mean nothing. I am thankful for each and everyone of my friends if I say it or not. The key is finding the balance between fake and genuine .