Thursday, October 14, 2010

A Letter is Better

After an abhorrently long window of time, I just composed an overdue thank you note. Having received a lovely one yesterday, this opinionated (am I ever otherwise?) post is a rework of an earlier composition. Agree? Disagree? En pointe or fuddy duddy? Comment accordingly!

To extrapolate from the old adage, you can most assuredly teach new dogs old tricks. Role model written recognition; our children learn our leanings.

Some schools of thought proclaim if one is present at the time of a present’s presentation - and thanks are orally bestowed on the spot - the recipient need not put pen to paper. My response: insufficient. Face-to-face thanks are a fine first step, but a follow-up is necessary. A phone call? Feeble. E-appreciation? E-gregiously inadequate.

Admittedly and unapologetically, I’m a martinet for manners. Emily Post, Letitia Baldridge, and Martha Stewart would likely find my fervor for form a bit fanatical. (e.g., otherwise qualified job applicants are eliminated from my short list when no note is received post-interview; impressions are important. No joke.)

Perpetuate polite protocol. Correspond with creative kindness. Acknowledge with appreciative attitude. Be thoughtful in your thankfulness, and do it in writing.

Encourage your offspring to embody - and expect - etiquette. For the penmanship-challenged population, a piece of artwork tucked within a tot-style notecard is a sublime solution.

It's never too late to get some gracious gratitude going.
Decorum demands it. Conscience commands it.
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5 comments:

Terra said...

Ok - My kids write thank yous, I write thank yous. They just need to be written. Bottom line.

Rebecca said...

My children will write thank you notes...as soon as they learn how to write. It's important.

Double the Giggles said...

100% agree. Hand written thank you's, hand written envelopes.... Take the time to acknowledge others kindness, and do so on an individual basis - not with some generic statement sent to everyone. Got a photo with "Thanks for Celebrating" pre-written on it after giving a $200 wedding gift (and attending the out-of-town wedding.) My name was also printed, by a computer, on an envelope label. Yes, I wanted to give the gift, and shouldn't have been appalled, but somehow I was.

Laura said...

Oh my gosh....what a delightful description of decorum!!!
Yes, I have been a proponent of a penned thank you since my mid-twenties.
Now, when I am very busy, I will fall from grace with cyber-gratitude. (ugh)
Lord,let me see the light again and shun laziness.
The handwritten thank you....rules.

Tracy said...

Couldn't agree more!!! Evan and Rowan already help with thank you cards. I write them, of course, but they color them once I'm done. We talk about who they are going to, and what that person means to them. I KNOW they don't remember all that, but I figure if I start now, it will be second hand by the time they're old enough to know better. One of the best gifts my own mother gave to me!!!

I really hate when I send a gift and it goes unrecognized. I know that not everybody learns what I learned growing up, so I DO cut slack, BUT, I always wonder, did they get it? Did they like it?