Headline, October04, 2013

''' !!! ^^^ THANK YOU AGAIN

 FOR HELPING WITH THE

 GARBAGE ^^^ !!! '''

A Great  Thank-You Note is a clear and ruddy piece of prose. There are only two moves involved. First  you remind the person what you are thanking them for. Then you tell them why. That's it.

You sign off, sure. And you might throw in an extra sentence or two for a laugh or a private joke.

But it's mostly a chop-chop exercise: two solid, sincere sentences, each touching on the heart of the matter. It isn't all that tough. My neighbor whose trash can I drag to the street every Thursday night, she gets it, too. 

She writes me a thank-you note every three weeks or so. It always starts with the same first line: 

''Thank you again for helping me with the garbage cans.'' The second line varies: ''It really is a load off my mind,'' ''My arthritic hands just won't allow it to do it myself,'' or ''I appreciate such reliable help more than I can say.'' That sort of thing. 

Sometime there is a line of the emergence of the daylilies. Real gratitude is in the details.

The discipline of the writing gave me a morning ritual beyond a cup of coffee and the blathering of SportsCenter. I started, for the first time in years, to work on my handwriting. The morning didn't tear by the way it usually does. 

I found that I could sit there and reconstruct the prior day by thinking of the faces of the people I met, the tenor of the things they did, and the places in which I met them. 

With each day, I could remember more about the each day that passed.

One day, toward the end of my experiment, I was called into my boos's office and pretty much told my time was up. They couldn't offer me the terms I had been working under any longer and they wanted the things to change, whether I wanted them to or not. 

As I sat there, my head filled with anger. I could think of three people I blamed for this. 

Then more. Jealous, petty careless people, each of whom had declared without saying as much, that they no longer wanted to watch my back.

Thanks, I wanted to shout. Thanks a lot. But I knew by now that no one would hear. I wasn't being fired; I was being dared to quit. The next morning as I sat the notes down in front of me, 

I expected I'd be able to think of little else except my imminent demise. When I looked at the blank notes, my own memory kicked in. 

The day hadn't been that bad. One guy had lent me a book on pigeons that I liked very much already. I'd also received a large discount on a poker table I wanted. I had plenty to write about. 

I wanted to write my boss, too. I felt like I had something to say.

I started in, because I knew i could. The discipline told me that this much Gratitude requires some measure of humility.I didn't quit or tell him to get lost, or ask for another meeting.

I sidestepped my anger and thanked him for his time. It turned out to be all he could offer me, and I told him I was glad to know that much. Knowing that  -really understanding it on a level I could reach only by sitting down to write the note   -made it easier to consider what had passed, and what still be to come

!!! I was grateful for that !!!.

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of Scotland. See Ya all on the World Students Society Computer-Internet-Wireless :

'' !!  One Giant Step  !! ''

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless