Thankless

It's all about appreciation. Mademoiselle was recently fuming (I have yet to hear the long version) when she returned from a week in France with her class as they apparently were a particularly thankless bunch who did not show the least appreciation for all the effort she put in organising their trip. I can relate even though I have long reduced my expectations from others in this regards. Highflyer makes a point of thanking me for every meal I cool for him and I really like this politeness and show of appreciation even though cooking is not a chore for me in the least, but one of my favourite hobbies. One of my pet hates is people who are mean and snobby to wait staff and people in the service industry in general and I really am friendly to everyone I meet and even tend to find excuses for rude behaviour along the lines of "he/she has had a bad day, probably" or "well, can't blame them given they work in this low-paid job and probably have to put up with annoying customers day in, day out". Sometimes even my patience and understanding are veeery stretched and I can't hold back sarcastic replies or just retaliate with actions I think might make them reconsider their behaviour. For years I also got the elder brothers of my godchild small presents (e.g. cinema vouchers) for Christmas. When I didn't hear a word of thanks from the teenagers I just stopped and gave her higher value presents instead. I actually heard back from their mother once that one of them remarked that he appreciated those gifts while they came in and did notice when the supply stopped, but well...tough luck.