As I sit writing out almost 100 thank you notes, the voice of Charles Osgood gently bellows through the house. Watching the Sunday Morning Show is our little ritual. Coincidentally, they are discussing the lost art of thank you notes.
I have long been a believer in the power of the handwritten note. Doesn't it surprise you to receive one? Don't you secretly think to yourself, "Who has time for this?" Isn't your grinchy little heart slightly warmed by the thought that someone else was thinking of you?
So why is this tender, albeit tiny, gesture on it's way to extinction?
As one of my young employees recently explained, "You can just send them a text or something." Really? That doesn't seem like an equally thoughtful gesture. Yes, we have the luxury of an enormous array of communication systems at our disposal. We can let someone know right away what we're thinking, how we're feeling or that we can't be bothered. But that's just the problem.
Its not about you!
When your spouse sends you a text, that's nice. When they call to hear your voice, it's even better. But when was the last time they wrote you a letter? Wouldn't that be nice? Would it totally floor you?
The handwritten note is all about the idea that you are not too busy (or self-involved) to stop and do something for someone else. You're not shooting a text while you simultaneously buy eggs and read a tabloid.
A handwritten note is a teeny tiny sacrifice of time. And in this culture of instant gratification, isn't that a sweet notion?
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