"Please Read This Story, Thank You" by Linton Weeks

Central Argument: The moral of today’s generation in not changing but the way the request or the gratitude is expressed is changing with time.

“Hey, can I borrow your pen? Thanks!” And the student replied “No problem!” with a big genuine smile. Maybe “Your welcome” would have been a better reply but there is nothing wrong with “No problem” when the person is showing his etiquettes through his or her tone and expressions. We cannot say that the student has not been brought up properly by her parents because she is displaying her moral values even if she isn’t using “Your welcome”.

"The Rise of 'Awesome'" by Robert Lane Greene says that we ought to change the meaning of words over time, like the word “awesome” was used formally in earlier times and now it is used for any and everything. In the same way, we change common phrases too. “Thank you” becomes “enjoy” and “sorry” becomes “my bad”, but the actual meaning remains the same. The person saying “my bad” is still accepting his or her fault and is apologizing even though the word “sorry” is not being used.

We are all familiar with what synonyms are. They are different words which mean the same thing, like “sad” and “unhappy”. More than 50% of the English dictionary has words that have synonyms. And if that is fine with everyone then there should be nothing wrong with synonyms for “thank you”, “sorry” and “you're welcome”. Even if different words are used to substitute them, the actual meaning remains.

 If the person is truly sorry, he or she will convey the message regardless of the words used. One should not always have to use the magic words to show his or her morality. As they say, “Actions speak louder than words.” I never apologies to my mother. I prefer doing something for her that will make her know I’m sorry than facing her and murmuring a “sorry”. I make her morning coffee or give her a card or something else that shows how I feel.  I am surely not losing my morality when I do that because I generally get a hug from her afterwards.

We all are different and we keep changing with time. And with time and us, the words we use also change.  That does not mean that we are changing how we feel. A human might change from the outside, but deep within he will gave the same feeling and emotions whatsoever. Even if the words used to express those emotions change, the meaning remains the same. A person loses his morality only when those emotions are not expressed at all in any way.