Think of the fridges of your life for one moment. Have they been covered with things? And do we not smile when a child takes its first steps?
Yes and yes. Throughout life, we find it important to recognize and celebrate worthwhile behavior.
So then why oh why do we leave the movie before the credits are over? Why do we skip the introductions and the endings?
If what we’re watching is good enough to pay for and sit through for two hours . . . if what we’re watching is so good that we can’t get enough and we simply need to skip the credits to get more . . . if we’re refusing to go to the bathroom . . . we should recognize that (i) it’s because people worked their asses off to bring this to us and (ii) those people did a great job. Those people deserve recognition and praise.
We put the picture on our fridge. We hug our child in pride. Let’s acknowledge that the movie that moves us is a special thing, too; a miraculous team effort much harder and more impressive to effect than we can imagine.
Let’s give credit where credit is due.