When Gratitude Comes From Simplicity

Some Habits decline slowly and others stay.
When I was young I watched children's television
on the BBC. They made a point of presenters
broadcasting live for that sense of vitality.
Each episode ended with the presenters
waving into camera and  said 'Goodbye'.
Sat at home I unthinkingly waved back.

Forty years later I still feel the courtesy
of those old television programmes,
where through the camera the presenter
I felt personally addressed.
Every night I turn off my lap top
and I wave to it and mouth 'Goodbye'
until we meet again in the morning.

I still find it odd how the good
in good manners is self renewing
but bad manners kill daily.