Anyone want to start a movement? Something called “Thanks for your Service”.
Here’s the premise; When you see a policemen, fireman, service man, etc. you simply hold four fingers to your heart and give it a gentle double tap.
This means you appreciate them and want to thank them for their service. I thought about ways to show appreciation, and went through many hand signals; a wave, high five, peace sign, etc., but felt they were all too trite.
Further, I researched the SWAT team and Police tactical hand signals to make sure I wasn’t giving a signal that could be mistaken for distress. In the end, I came up with the four fingers tapping the heart– see the Photo attached.
Why would this come up you may ask? Well, a few months back I was in New York City. This was a couple of days after the Policemen had been tragically shot. I was walking through Times Square and noticed in wonder as corner after corner (in the freezing cold) were men in Blue bravely standing there to keep people safe. You could feel the tension and concern as anyone could have walked up to them and done harm, but they stood proudly there protecting the city. The second issue occurred a few months later. I was in NYC and walking out of a meeting on 34th street when a loud BOOM shattered through the generic morning noise of NYC traffic.
As I stood there in wonder, many thoughts go through your mind- was it a backfire? A gun shot? An explosion? Another terrorist attack? I was not alone in my consternation and thoughts as almost everyone on the street was standing there with a similar look of stunned bemusement. It was a few second later when the SECOND explosion happened, that thing got interesting. At this point everyone on the street turned and took off running down the street in the opposite direction.
There was one particularly flamboyant person who went screaming and sprinting with his hands flailing wildly in the air. As I too turned to briskly walk away (still not sure what had occurred) I see something that made me stop.
Running TOWARD the explosion were police men and women from all directions! There were running toward the noise and chaos without any idea what the cause was. Yes, these brave individuals were sprinting to the danger, while those of us casual citizens were running the other way. It ended up being a gas explosion () but at that moment, no one knew.
So, with so much angst and anger against those who give their lives to protect us, I wanted a simple signal of appreciation and recognition.
That its, the simple T4YS (Thanks for your Service) love tap. Who’s with me? Please share along if you are so inclined.