leaving the restaurant after our family lunch yesterday, my girls commented to me (with some surprise in their voices, I might add), "That man opened the door for all of us." "Yes," I replied, "he's a gentleman." I was delighted to hear those two precious words utter from their mouths to his ears . . .
"Thank you!"
Do we express our thanks often enough . . .even for the simplest yet oh so important acts of kindness?
Writing Thank You notes receives national attention from Katie Couric. In the age of e-mail, the handwritten thank you note is becoming a lost art.
Steve Hartman gets a lesson from a recognized expert -- and you could win a boxed note set of my Thank you cards - just (1) share your comment here: do you write thank you notes, and do you send them for occasions other than having received a gift; and (2) follow me on my facebook page
A collection of my Thank You cards may be purchased at
and
Jan. 24, 2011
Thank You Notes Not Just for Holidays
CBS News Correspondent Steve Hartman Learns the Importance of Putting Pen on Paper and Expressing Gratitude for Everyday Acts
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- Play CBS Video Video Handwritten Thank You Notes
As part of the continuing series "Assignment America," Steve Hartman takes a lesson in the lost art of handwritten thank you notes.
Twis now a month after Christmas and all through my house
Not a note has been written, does that make me a louse?
Must I really send thanks for all the candles and cheeses
Or that book from my in-laws about tracking animal feces?
Yes, at least according to my 1950 edition of Emily Post. But today, most of us don't live stationery lives. Thanks to our new paperless, manner-less society, the thank you note has been slowly going the way of the curtsy, and I say that's a good thing.
This is an issue "60 Minutes" Correspondent Byron Pitts and I have always been at odds over. He sends out thank you notes to the people he interviews, camera crews, you name it.
"There's something nice about the hand-written word, that people can feel it, can touch it, you know?" Pitts asked.
It's Boy Scouts like Pitts who make the rest of us look bad, but this guy says writing thank yous can actually make you feel good, really good.
"I did feel it changed my life," Los Angeles attorney John Kralik said.
It all started three years ago, Kralik said. His life was really going down the tubes, personally and professionally, when one day, while walking, he heard an inner voice telling him to start writing thank you notes.
"I wasn't that grateful of a person," said Kralik. "I wasn't noticing the good things that happened to me each day. I wasn't noticing the good people I was encountering every day."
People like his daughter's piano teacher or the woman who cuts his hair, even the woman at Starbucks, who he thanked just for making the effort to remember his name.
"'In a way that makes me feel like a person and not a number; thank you, John,'" the barista read from Kralik's note. "It just made me realize that what I do does count."
In total, John wrote 365 notes that year and now has written a book about how it supposedly changed his fortune.
"When you appreciate something, it comes again," said Kralik. "If I was thankful for clients paying their bills, they seemed to pay faster. If I was thankful for cases, they seemed to come more."
That made sense. So I decided to give it a try and asked Pitts for help. I mean, where do you even start?
"Maybe, 'I hope this note finds you well,'" Pitts said.
Turns out, you open with a broad greeting and close with a broad greeting. I did mail it, and it went over well.
"Steve, I got your note," my father-in-law said in a voicemail. "That was nice."
Although I should probably get my own stationery.
"I was a little curious because there was an ending Brian, Byron Pitts," my father-in-law said. "But, anyway, thanks."
For the record, apparently I'm not the only one at CBS who's been lax with the thank yous.
The New York Post recently published celebrity New Year's resolutions, and guess who said she needed to write more thank you notes?
"CBS Evening News" Anchor Katie Couric
Thank you, my dear readers for your presence in my creative journey. You are appreciated.
Warmly,
Terri Conrad
This is great article. I am really impressed. Thanks for sharing your beautiful blog.
Posted by: marion | April 13, 2011 at 12:32 AM
So glad I ran across this article - I had almost completely neglected sending thank yous this year, yikes!
- The MiracleFruit Man
Posted by: MiracleFruit Man | February 05, 2011 at 09:52 PM
YES! I do send handwritten thank you notes for all gifts I receive. For other occasions? Not as often as I should but I am a firm believier in sending them. It infuriates me when I spend thought, time and money in purchasing a gift and never receive a thank you - in any format. What happened? When did people feel that they don't need to thank you? It doesn't hurt to say "thank you" and it costs very little to send a note. People, please be vocal and say "thank you" ... it really will make YOU feel good!
Posted by: SuZeQ | January 31, 2011 at 07:25 PM