Tag: thank you card

Moving Trucks and Thank You Cards – Perfect Together

I am in the middle of moving for the first time in many years. Packing, shifting, and unpacking boxes is not my idea of a good time. I am hoping I won’t have to do it again for quite a while. (If my first reaction to my new pad is any indication, I won’t! I love it!)

I am lucky enough to have helpful parents and friends who were there to aid me in the move. I was also of enough sound mind to keep a box of Thank You cards on hand (and unpacked) so that I could write out enough notes of gratitude to make it seem like Thanksgiving around the new Casa de Dee!

Next week, my new furniture is being delivered. You can bet the delivery men will be receiving Thank You cards with their tips – especially considering the rotten weather forecast! The Verizon FIOS technician is next on the list, although I have to wait an unbearable three weeks for my installation.

The next time I have to do this all over again, it’s no question – a moving company will be hired! And yes, I’ll be sure to have a box of Thank You cards at the ready on that occasion, too!

A Thank You Card for the Commish

With baseball season starting last week, my friends and I recently held our draft for the fourth season of our fantasy baseball league. I love being a participant and this year I am going to send a thank you card to my friend Michael who heads the league (Actually, we don’t refer to him as Michael anymore…he is known as “The Commish”). Not only does Michael, eh, the Commish, have to make sure all the rules and regulations as well as players selected in the draft are coordinated on the website, he also has to settle any issues or disputes that may occur during the six-month long season (in addition to managing his own team).

The great thing about having a team in a baseball fantasy league is being able to be the general manager of an actual team, so-to-speak, since the players selected are real players who play major league baseball and whose actual real-life stats are what drive the league and its results. And because there are so many games in the six-month season, the teams need to be managed on a daily basis. There’s always something to check on and/or study either online or in the daily newspaper to help make one’s team (mine is the Heights Yankees) hopefully finish at least in the playoffs if not in first place.

As the general manager, I decide who plays (from the players on my roster) based on which player is hot and also from studying specific matchups between certain batters and the pitchers they will be facing in that day’s real game. Matchups oftentimes make a difference as to whether the batter (or pitcher if he is on my roster) will have a big game or not. Trades, free agents to pick up, or deciding whether to keep injured players or not are all part of the responsibility and great fun of having a fantasy team. At the end of the season, the top teams compete in the playoffs at the end of which the final two teams play in a “World Series” to determine the eventual champion.

Having the opportunity to devote some of my time and exercise my love of baseball as a participant in something like this makes the baseball season so much more interesting. And the thank you card that I will be sending to the Commish will tell him exactly that.

Thank You Cards – It’s Never too Late

It’s never too late to send a thank you card. I know you may be thinking this is just some sales-y pitch to buy thank you cards. It’s not, period. Here’s my quick feel-good thank you cards are important and make everyone thankful story…

Recently I was travelling. As I passed through Newark Airport’s gate area I came upon the Airport Wireless store and decided to browse. It seems like there is always something that I need. Sure enough I realized I had recently lost my stereo-hands-free cell phone mp3 player earbuds. These are very important to me as I am immensely more productive on the phone with them than without them. I purchased a very nice pair of Shure earbuds and said thank you to the store employee who helped me pick them out. I in turn acknowledged his “Thank You for your business” and I rushed off to catch my flight.

A few hours later when I reached my destination I headed over to the rental car counter. I set my things down, filled out the paperwork and exchanged another set of thank yous with the Avis employee. “Thanks very much,” I said “Yes sir, thank you for renting from Avis today” he said. “Which way to my car?” “Right out those doors and to the right, sir.” “Thank you, have a nice day.” “You’re welcome sir and Thank You again.” The exchange was as business-like and as pleasant as can be. This cordial, professional, friendly and just plain polite business exchange is something refreshing about travelling to the Midwest of the United States.

So, a couple of hours of driving later, thankfully I finally arrive at my hotel. I checked-in with a whole new round of “Thank you,” “Thank you sir,” “Thanks and have a nice day.” Settling into my room something seems to be missing, but I just can’t place what it is. Then I realize. Ugggh! It’s too easy to not miss something that you’ve barely owned. My new expensive earbuds, where are they!? I retrace my steps. When was I last sure that I had them? I quickly realize that they are now a two hour drive behind me last seen on the lower counter portion of the Avis rental car check-in desk. I curse a few times and pretty much write them off mentally. And then I realize…Wait a minute! I am in the land of the nicest “thank you, no, thank YOU” people I have ever come across outside of New York. I figure what the heck and I make a call to Avis and get through to the Avis counter at the airport that I flew through. A very nice fellow in maintenance says he’ll have to go take a look and he’ll call me back. I figure I am never getting a call back…but then as he is hanging up the phone he says “Thank you for renting from Avis!” Maybe there is a prayer. Maybe the “thank you, no, thank YOU” culture of just plain nice people will save me.

Well, you guessed it. Saved I was and very very thankful. And of course, thanked again by the loyal and friendly Avis employee. He UPSd a box to my hotel room. I couldn’t be more thankful. Or could I?

So, here I sit in my home office working remotely today, “cleaning up” things. This great Avis employee who UPSd me my earbuds that I frankly had no right to expect I would ever see again did the right thing by his company. He sent the item UPS collect. I didn’t even know you could do that! Anyhow, I need to pay the bill. $12.34 I couldn’t be more happy and thankful to pay. But, it’s not all about money is it? The bill reminds me that I had to rush through the airport and the car return to catch my flight. I never had the opportunity to track down the employee and thank him and the other employees.

It’s just another one of those stories in our busy lives. Too much to do, too little time –
too often too little time to even say “Thank you.” But alas, that is what greeting cards, note cards and letters have always been for. Greeting cards help us to pause for just a moment, to reflect, and to say something. It takes a little bit of effort and a little bit of thoughtfulness, but the rewards are dividends paid to both parties. The little bit of effort is what conveys the thought. The old expression “It is the thought that counts,” which used to be used for gift giving, really isn’t true any more. It is, in fact, the effort that counts. It is the effort, however small, that expresses the thoughtfulness. It is too easy in today’s society to click a button and send your closest 500 friends an email form letter. The “ease” dilutes and diminishes the thoughtfulness conveyed.

So, with this much longer than I thought blog post now finally coming to a conclusion I shall:

  1. Thankfully pay my UPS collect bill.
  2. Write a thank you card to the Avis employee at the airport.
  3. Write some more thank you cards today for others whom I am probably long overdue to send thank you cards.

P.S. – I suppose I could make an argument that the longer the length of time between the event someone is being thanked for and the arrival of the thank you cards actually is a measure of how truly thankful someone is. i.e. They remember it long after the event.  Hmmm. I have wanted to write my sixth grade teacher a thank you card before she passes to a better place. I better get on that! I can’t imagine how old she is now! I’m no spring chicken myself.

Business Thank You Cards for an Interview

At this particular moment in time, the economy is in turmoil. If you’ve been laid off and are going on interviews to secure a new stable job for your future, you may want to keep reading. Have you thought to yourself, “How will I stand out from the other qualified interviewees who want the same position that I do?” If the company has a large application quota, they may not even remember your face (or your name, for that matter).

You’ve heard about sending an email thanking your interviewers for their time, but for a more personal touch, why not send business thank you cards instead? If it’s a job you really want, you might consider sending the thank you card express or personally delivering it to the company. Business thank you cards are certain to give you an edge over the competition. And if an unfortunate turn of events leads you to not landing the job, you’ll probably be remembered for a future available position in the company because of the thank you cards you sent!

A Thank You Card from Iraq

I have this greeting card.  It’s hard to throw away.  I want to show it to someone, cherish it, keep it. It means something to me; something hard to say. I was pleased to receive it. In fact I was even proud. It is a thank you card. The thank you is from a Chaplain and a Sergeant to me personally. They are in the Army. They are in Iraq. I am sitting in my office outside New York City just across the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey. They have written to me to say thanks.

Personalized thank you card from COP Speicher

They are the ones owed a thanks. They are thanking me for donating holiday cards. The card is somehow different than the emails of thanks I have also received. It’s a piece of paper. IT was there, in their hands. The Chaplain and the Sergeant wrote it, signed it, and addressed it to me. In a sense it is a piece of them in a strange way. The few times I have gone to either throw away the card or give it to someone else to archive I have stopped. I can’t part with it. And a big part of that hesitation is the envelope.

The envelope is also hand addressed. The return address is COB Speicher. I am a bit of a news junkie. I remember who Scott Speicher was. Sadly, I presume he is dead. Lost in the first Gulf War he was listed as Killed-in-Action but then later revised to Missing-in-Action – his flight suit was found; his initials were suspiciously carved in a prison wall.  Iraqi records later found a listing of him as a captive. His parents and relatives endlessly hoping for a simple return address on a hand-scribed envelope from a far away place during a dark and uncertain time in the history of the world.

Envelope from COB Speicher

Where do we go from here? How will the world move forward and be at peace while protecting and providing rights to individuals? It is easy to be pessimistic. The reality is that we will all perish some day. It is what we do between now and that day that really matters. I wish the Chaplain and the Sergeant well. I wish for them a safe return. I wish for a bright future for my children and all of the children of this world.

A Thank You Card Favor for my Persuasive Daughter

I was on my way to CVS the other day to pick up a few things when I got a phone call about, believe it or not, a thank you card or more specifically company thank you cards. Now normally when I’m driving I don’t even answer my cell phone, good driver and law-abiding citizen that I am. But the caller ID told me that it was my lovely daughter on the other end. I knew that if I didn’t answer she would keep on calling until I did. If anything, she’s persistent. So I reluctantly answered my phone.

She wanted to know if I could do her “a little favor.” After quietly muffling a groan, I told her that I only had about 20 minutes to spare since I had to meet my sister for lunch. “No problem” she says. “This will only take a few minutes.” How many times have I heard that one before? Nothing ever takes a few minutes. When you live in Northern Jersey it could take you 45 minutes to go 2 miles on Route 80 when one of those tractor trailers overturns like they do a gazillion times a month. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, the daughter…like the time she asked me for a ride to pick up her car at the body shop. “It will only take a few minutes.” One hour and 17 minutes later we pulled into the body shop. But I digress.

Back to the phone call: “OK” I said, trying not to sound too annoyed. “What do you want?” She says. “Remember my client, the guy with the bad toupee and the breath to match?” “How could I forget him?” I say. “Well,” she says, “He just sent an awesome gift basket to my boss to thank us for all the help we’ve been to him. I want to send him a really nice thank you card and it would be great to have a supply of greeting cards on hand for all our clients. So I was thinking, could you pick me up a few thank you cards at CVS or better yet, could you order a box of company thank you cards from your company for my boss? Your greeting cards are really terrific and I know that my boss will be impressed when he sees them.” (Boy, can she lay it on heavy when she wants something!) “Sure!” I said “That’s a great idea, very thoughtful, not to mention the brownie points for you. Is that all?” I asked, finding it hard to believe I got off that easy. “Well,” she says, “Now that you mention it, could you pick up my dry cleaning? It will only take you a few minutes.” Arghh!!!

Business Thank You Cards Show You Care

In business it is always appropriate to express appreciation to clients, valued customers, patrons, vendors, suppliers and dedicated employees. Each one contributes to the success a company strives to achieve and each one is so very important in maintaining that success. What better way to show gratitude to these individuals than by sending each one of them an impressively designed, high quality thank you card that conveys this heartfelt sentiment?

Sending business thank you cards shows you care. A thank you card sends the message that you took the extra time and consideration to extend your gratitude toward its recipient. Don’t underestimate the power a single thank you card carries. It makes you feel special. Simple business thank you cards, whether they are sent during the Christmas holiday season or any other time of year, can assure you that you will be remembered by those who receive them.

So when you receive business thank you cards, you can be assured of this: that the greeting card you hold in your hands is truly more than just a gracious gesture of gratitude. It is a reminder…a reminder of your importance to the sender. A reminder of how special you are and that you are being thought of.

Greetings, Great Service, Good Business

In this seemingly endless crazy world of business being reinvented every day and new communications devices cropping up each week there IS a staple, a basic, a fundamental unchanging and completely inalterable constant in this world. You might wonder what possibly in THIS world could remain unchanged, heaven forbid INALTERABLE!?

Yes, I write for you today of this magical, simple, amazing, unchanged-for-generations and inalterable for many many more generations THING. What is this thing? Call it manners; Call it courtesy; Call it kindness, thanks or decency. Call it what you like but I find most of the words and descriptions people tend to use for this THING limiting and too narrow. I’ll simply say that there is an undeniable fact and that is simply that we are human. This “human-ness” bestows upon us five (5) senses and an amazing intellect.

Our most basic and primitive human-ness is lost upon many of us and our children. We race around the planet in cars and airplanes. Even our poorest children live in a fantasy land of television screens, game consoles and computers. Our human-ness is often forgotten. But it is here. It is undeniable. And therefore our most basic and simple senses and psychology still do exist despite the “advancements” of society in communications and technology.

Sometimes when I think “thoughts” like this I wonder if I am maybe just getting older and starting to reflect on my life more but then actually I remember that in fact I spent much more time thinking thoughts like this when I WAS younger!? Anyhow, I’m not known for my brevity, maybe I just try and cut to the chase. It is simple. I sit before you today to write of a most basic, simple and too often forgotten simple thing. We are human. We are simple. We appreciate simple things. We understand. We understand the difference between a bulk email, a form letter, a quickly fired off email and a sincere effort that takes a precious few moments of the senders’ time.

Today, I sit to write a “Thanks” to Rocco in Volvo Service of Montclair Auto Group in Montclair NJ. I have never met Rocco. I have never spoken to Rocco. However, Rocco deserves my heartfelt thanks and Rocco will be receiving from me a thank you card stating this clearly. Rocco provided me with something simple that brought a smile to my face today and restored some small bit of my faith in humanity today. Rocco sent me a note that starts “Greetings!” which then goes on to explain, sorry this took so long but the parts for this are not available any longer…I managed to find an old broken one from which to take the battery cap…”

Rocco solved a problem for me. My 1997 Volvo wagon that my mother-in-law gave me was suddenly inexplicably not able to let me in with that new fangled wireless door lock because of a very simple reason. It had no battery. But much worse than that the battery cap was missing from the device. Now I know that I don’t NEED that little device and in fact I had lived for many months without it, but what to do? Throw away the device or fix it? Dangling on my keychain it was nothing but a sore reminder of the weakness of technology and an ornamental piece of garbage. I could not bring myself to just toss the little thing so I asked a friend if he knew of a Volvo dealer nearby. He did and in fact he said he would send it to his friend “Rocco” who might be able to help.

The “short” story… Rocco helped. And he reminded me with his kind note accompanying the fixed device that we are all human. That simple things like a note can make a big difference in people’s impressions and attitudes. Not hastily written form-letters, notes, cards, Holiday cards, Christmas cards, birthday cards, or in those unfortunate times, sympathy cards. Our psyches are simple. Our brains powerful. We know the effort it takes and we appreciate that time spent as it does correlate to the sender’s sincerity. So, Rocco, you can see that I am sincerely thankful. And you, my reader, who has made it this far…yes, you! You are human, and your friends, your family and your customers are human too. A simple and soulful thank you that presents to another humans five senses a small piece of paper expressing good will is the very least we can do for each other in this day and age…

Be a human. Send a greeting card to someone. Make them smile and you will have done a good deed that will know doubt revisit you someday.

Thank you Rocco and thank you Montclair Auto Group. My thank you cards are on their way! And, it is without hesitation that I recommend your services to others. For old world service with the human touch, visit www.montclairjaguar.com or www.montclairvolvo.com Though most importantly, be human! And visit them in person at:

Montclair Auto Group
654 Bloomfield Ave.
Montclair, NJ 07042
(973) 746-4500