Have you ever sent a gift or money to a son, daughter or grandchild and wondered if they ever got it or how about a graduation invitation. You send a check and never hear from them again.
I was raised in an Irish family of seven. Besides having jobs at young ages including babysitting, mowing lawns and chores around the house, another task we were required to do was to write thank you notes to aunts and uncles for gifts at birthday and Christmas. The boys got gray wool flannel pants and wing tip shoes and my sister, a dress. We balked at writing thank you notes but there was no plea bargaining. Why should one write a thank you note for something they never needed or asked for?
My father (Pup) used to say, “as we get older, we enjoy reading a thank you note. Some day you will feel the same.”
When I graduated from college, my first interview was for a sales and marketing job. I went in a bit cocky and did little research about the company. I wore a coat, tie, made eye contact and gave a firm handshake (which Pup taught me). Other than that, the interview bombed. He said basically don’t call us we’ll call you. I was totally dejected when I got home. Pup asked if I had done anything right. I said a firm handshake and eye contact. He said “OK, we’ll run with that plus a thank you note.”
Well, I reluctantly wrote it and a few days later got a call from the national sales manager asking me to come in for another interview. I did and was more prepared. He ended up calling the district manager and said, “I want you to hire this Tracy kid. Anyone who writes a thank you note deserves a job with our company.” Well, guess what, I got the job.
So, write a thank you note and teach your kids and grandkids to do the same. After all, how long does it take to put pen to paper. Who knows, it might brighten a day, or someone might even get a job as result.
Rob Tracy
Bigfork