Thank you notes
I found this post over at the Manager Tools this morning about the practice of sending thank you notes dying and I had to say I was interested. I have to admit something. Before I met Angela, I never wrote thank you notes. Not for birthday gifts, or at Christmas, or for anything really. In fact, for many years I had a very difficult time expressing gratitude in any fashion. Of course, my wife wasn’t going to stand for that so I’ve gotten quite good at making sure I send thank you notes to anyone who gives me a gift for my birthday, anniversary, holiday, etc. I’ve also discovered the pleasure that comes from being able to say “thank you” in a formal way when it’s appropriate.
Ever since I read Mark’s post this morning though, it’s occurred to me that there are probably plenty of times outside of gift-giving that I need to be more aware showing gratitude to folks who have done me a favor. Maybe most of them don’t necessarily need to have a hand-written note, but certainly an email, or even a more heart-felt thank you than the every day, emotionless “thanks” would do a world of good in making people feel appreciated, and that certainly makes it worth my efforts.
As a help desk worker, I know how much it means to me to get more than the cursory “thanks” for solving a problem, so I should be doing it more than anyone!
So with that, in mind. Thanks for reading, and commenting on the site. It makes all the writing worthwhile. 🙂
Thanks for posting all your useful stuff. I also read that page – the day after we sent all our christmas thankyou’s so I didn’t feel too guilty!
Thanks for this it inspired me to write a thank you note to a coworker who’s serving on the implementation team for the new database.