I was raised to write Thank You notes. After a birthday, Christmas or other gift receiving occasion my mother would sit me down at the kitchen table and have/make me write thank you notes. I dutifully wrote pretty much the same thing over and over again, but I got them done.
As an adult I've learned from my friend, Liz, how truly important writing thank you notes can be for your career. She actually wrote the book on it. People so seldom write (as in handwritten) thank you cards that it's always nice to receive one. I have found that sending thank you notes is even more important now that I'm a small business owner. Thank you notes usually leave an impression (even if it's - geez that girl has bad penmanship) and makes you memorable.
I was asked to stay on as Committee Outreach Committee chairperson for this coming year by the incoming president (of the trade association I always talk about). I accepted and immediately sent her a "thank you for appointing me again" note. She sent me an email today saying that the note made her day.
I'm not exactly sure what the protocol is for responding to a "thank you for the thank you note" email, but I wrote the incoming president back and told her she could show her appreciation for my note with a gift of booze. I'm sure Liz would approve.
Here's Graby today (with me!). He looks bored and is making the "more" sign. I'm not sure what he wants "more" of - but I'm sure he wants me to take more pictures.
I think it's really nice that you wrote a thank you note. Now I don't have to tell you to "try harder".
ReplyDeleteI got a thank you note for sending a thank you note to someone who referred me a client recently and the note I received said something like, "...thank you for the nice note, no one sends handwritten cards anymore so I know you must be over age 40". No joke.
I think it was meant as a compliment but who the hell knows. Because I am a calm and rational woman I interpreted it to read: "thanks for clogging up my mail box you crazy old woman". So I called the woman who sent me the note and called her names for about 15 minutes to teach her a lesson. Jonathan was a little annoyed with me for making his grandmother cry but, as you can see from this story, the woman had it coming.
Thank you for writing such entertaining blog posts.
Sincerely,
Your Polite Friend Liz
PS: Cheryl and Marsha - I kid! I didn't scream at Jonathan's grandmother. Really it was the crazy lady who lives down the street. As long as it's not family it's OK to yell at old women isn't it?? I didn't hit her or anything. Geez, don't overreact on me now.