“My point was that a persons obligation to say thank you is because they have to be a mentsch. However you have no right to demand or expect a thank you because in reality you didnt do anything and its actually inappropriate to take the credit for something that Hashem gave you and enabled you to do. “
I guess we disagree on this point. In fact, my Rov (who is VERY big on haloras hatov), gave and entire drasha on Shabbos Shuva, how people who are not makir tov to other people, cannot possibly be makir tov to Hashem. If you don’t recognize a tova that someone does for you, you will also not recognize the depth of what Hashem does for you. And by the way, no one should demand a thank you (unless a parent is trying to teach good manners to a child), but we have every right to expect people to HAVE good manners. if not, they are boorish and ill-bred. People might get their parnassah from HAshem ultimately, but if they choose to use that parnassah to give a down and out friend an open-ended loan (as opposed to buying yet another car or going on yet another vacation), do you not think that merits a little appreciation? A simple thank-you can go a long way, if it is heartfelt.