More On Congratulations

It appears I have ruffled some feathers out there with my post on the unnecessary congratulations for a car purchase. I will probably just get in deeper with this but I will try to explain myself:

When someone I know buys a car, or other pricey item, I might ask, "Did you get a good deal?" If they answer with something like, "Yes, it took a lot of haggling but I got a pretty good deal" then I might say something like, "That's great!' or "Wonderful!" or "Good for you!" but I am highly unlikely to offer congratulations. When someone plays well and wins, I will offer congratulations because there was obviously effort and risk involved and the person persevered against adversity, he or she actually accomplished something. I might offer congratulations to a new husband or wife, I might offer congratulations to someone (father or mother) who just had a child though it often seemed silly to me to offer that to the father... for a number of reasons I will not go into here. Maybe more likely to offer such if the couple had been trying for a child for some time.

My post was about the cultural cheapening of a compliment. Like graduating from kindergarten or elementary school. Or an award for participation in some team or individual contest. These things are routine, we are a competitive species... competing should be expected, not something unusual that needs to be recognized.

This blog is about how I see things and so I muse about various things that puzzle me or interest me in some way. It is, therefore, highly opinionated. And these opinions are mine, not the reader's. I recognize that you, as a reader, might not always see things my way... I hope you also recognize that I might see things differently than you; that neither of us is correct or incorrect.

Now, some of you offered me food for thought on this subject. Mostly, I see it as interesting takes on the subject but not sufficient argument to make me change my mind. Some of it seemed to imply I was being impolite in not responding favorably to the offers of congratulations. Let me assure you that I say "thanks" to these folks, I try not to be rude to them... they feel, apparently, that they are complimenting me. That I might believe differently is unimportant to them.

But I thank you all for commenting. Really. Congratulations!