Thank You

My friend Lindsay posted on Facebook today that she's having one of those days where she wishes people were nicer. I had to agree--it seems like there are so many people out there who are negative, or thoughtless, and it starts to add up.

This is a timely subject, as on Tuesday I ran into a former colleague from Dead President Elementary and she told me that She Who Must Not Be Named (the one who helped me lose my job) quit in February, to move to Texas with her fiancee. She has taken a job helping a woman who designs cheer-leading costumes. I wish her...oh, hell, I don't wish her good or bad. But damn, I wish that she'd moved to Texas before she could give me the only negative teaching evaluation I've received in an eight-year career.

I did have a thought yesterday, though: California is now a Former Boss-free zone. This gives me much joy.

But enough about her. I got the idea to write this post because the whole "wish people were nicer" subject came up because Lindsay was peeved that after sending a generous gift to an old friend recently, she has not received one word of thanks, not even an email saying, "Hey, the gift arrived!" Nothing. Nada. And that's just rude.

People get busy, and yes, there are only so many hours in a day--but that is no excuse, especially with email, not to thank someone. I sent a baby gift in March and mere days after I put it in the mail, I had a thank-you card from my friend. She must have sat down, written it, addressed it and stamped it the very afternoon the gift arrived. It meant a lot to me that even while 9 months pregnant and busy preparing for the imminent arrival of her little boy, my friend made the effort to thank me for my gift. I would have been pleased for her to write on my Facebook wall a quick, "Hey! Thanks for the gift! It was so cute!"

I mulled over the topic for a few minutes and then promptly forgot about it whilst watching episodes of Supernatural on DVD (thanks to Lindsay, I have season 3 to watch. After all, it's her fault I'm now obsessed with this show!). But then this afternoon, I logged into my email and found a message from Magen, the Chorale director. It was short, but it was so lovely to read.

She thanked me for my hard work and organization in getting about 10 new pieces out to 100 singers on Tuesday night, and for my commitment to Chorale. I replied simply that I'm happy to help, and that Chorale has been so good for me these last three years.

It meant a lot to get that simple email. It made my afternoon, and it was so easy, so quick for Magen to send it. Just a little thing, that brought some pride and joy to me.

Earlier this week, she let me use her as a reference for a job I've applied for, and waiting in my Chorale bag is a thank-you card. It's just how I work.

I don't do things for platitudes and gushing thank-yous--I do nice things because it feels nice to do it. That said, it feels nice to know that someone appreciates it.

So, if you're still reading, thank you. Thank you for caring enough about my life to read my random little blog. Thank you for taking time to comment (I think the "Like" button on Facebook is evil--people just "like" posts all over the place but never really comment anymore) and tell me how the post made you feel, or what it meant to you. Thank you.

No, really. Thank you.