Thou Shalt Write thy Notes
There are very painful memories of being sat down at the kitchen table a few days post-birthday party with a ball point pen and stack of thank you notes. Not the fill in the blank variety of thank you notes. The blank ones. The ones that stared at you from the table, white paper gleaming viciously waiting for you to start writing that scripted and tedious note.
Dear So and So,
Thank you so much for the [insert: Bath and Body Works Body Spray, earrings from Limited Too, Leonardo Dicaprio biography, Star Wars playset]! They are so [insert: great smelling, beautiful, interesting, fun to play with] and I cannot wait to [insert: wear it to school, wear them to school, read it again, play with it] . Thank you also for coming to my birthday party.
Love,
Caroline
Then the process was repeated, until every member of the 4th grade class who had attended my birthday party received a personalized thank you note in the mail three days later.
It was a painful process. There were at least 50 children in my grade at the time and there was no forgetting to write someone a thank you note (thanks to my mother’s meticulous notes on who gave what).
I hated it. I really hated it.
But, and here’s the glittering moral of the story, thank you notes matter. They matter because most people don’t, for whatever reason, write them. And this is why you must write them constantly.
Someone send you tickets to a party? Start writing. Model in a fashion show? Thank the designer AND whoever coordinated the show. Client buys a painting? You know the rest.
Thank you notes are the bane, and blessing of a good social existence. Do yourself a favor.
