Getting in touch with my inner grump
Feb. 23rd, 2006 08:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hrjThey say that sooner or later every woman starts becoming her mother. Today I think I'm channeling my grandmother instead. My grandmother in a grumpy mood. You have been warned.
I like doing things for people. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and time. I'm happy to give useful things to people who can use them when I have no rational use for them myself. And I like getting thanked for it.
Grump #1: Over a year ago, I decided it was time to do something about a half-finished late 18th c. dress that had sat around for 20 years and that I was never going to fit again. So I offered it and the unused yardage, trim, etc. that went with it for free to someone who could pledge to finish it, wear it, and who would send me pictures of the result. Free. Including shipping. Out of a number of interested parties, I sent it off to the one who sounded most likely to make my dress happy. I got plenty of enthusiastic thanks up to the point when I shipped it. Then nothing. Not even a note acknowledging that it arrived (or questioning why it hadn't, for that matter). All I wanted in return was to know that the dress got finished as was being worn. Nothing.
Grump #2: Back last fall, someone in the SCA -- not someone I know well, but someone I'd met once or twice -- wrote me and asked for help in locating a Welsh translation of an SCA oath for a friend of hers. As it happened, I'd done a translation that was nearly what she was looking for on another occasion, so sent her my text and notes on that along with additional material to convert it into what she needed. Nothing. Silence. I wrote a month later concerned about whether she'd received the e-mail. Nothing. Silence. (Note: On the unlikely chance that RH is reading this -- I am not talking about you. Trust me.)
Grump #3: Recently, on an SCA list, someone solicited help for a school project for one of their children. They needed a particular sort of interview subject. I thought I fit the bill, so I volunteered. I spent a couple of hours answering the list of interview questions I received in e-mail. Then nothing. Silence. Not even an acknowledgement that it had been received.
Now, to be fair, most people I do things for are quite cheerful and prompt in saying thanks. And I'm not likely to let a few oblivious ingrates change my behavior. But come on. "Thank you" takes so little effort and costs absolutely nothing. In the work world, I've found that the liberal use of "please" and "thank you" works absolute wonders in getting things done. Purely from a pragmatic point of view, it's worth making them a reflex. If there's anyone out there who has ever done something for me and I neglected to say thank you at the time -- thank you now, and my apologies for having neglected to do so before.
And thank you Grandma for helping me release my inner grump.
I like doing things for people. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and time. I'm happy to give useful things to people who can use them when I have no rational use for them myself. And I like getting thanked for it.
Grump #1: Over a year ago, I decided it was time to do something about a half-finished late 18th c. dress that had sat around for 20 years and that I was never going to fit again. So I offered it and the unused yardage, trim, etc. that went with it for free to someone who could pledge to finish it, wear it, and who would send me pictures of the result. Free. Including shipping. Out of a number of interested parties, I sent it off to the one who sounded most likely to make my dress happy. I got plenty of enthusiastic thanks up to the point when I shipped it. Then nothing. Not even a note acknowledging that it arrived (or questioning why it hadn't, for that matter). All I wanted in return was to know that the dress got finished as was being worn. Nothing.
Grump #2: Back last fall, someone in the SCA -- not someone I know well, but someone I'd met once or twice -- wrote me and asked for help in locating a Welsh translation of an SCA oath for a friend of hers. As it happened, I'd done a translation that was nearly what she was looking for on another occasion, so sent her my text and notes on that along with additional material to convert it into what she needed. Nothing. Silence. I wrote a month later concerned about whether she'd received the e-mail. Nothing. Silence. (Note: On the unlikely chance that RH is reading this -- I am not talking about you. Trust me.)
Grump #3: Recently, on an SCA list, someone solicited help for a school project for one of their children. They needed a particular sort of interview subject. I thought I fit the bill, so I volunteered. I spent a couple of hours answering the list of interview questions I received in e-mail. Then nothing. Silence. Not even an acknowledgement that it had been received.
Now, to be fair, most people I do things for are quite cheerful and prompt in saying thanks. And I'm not likely to let a few oblivious ingrates change my behavior. But come on. "Thank you" takes so little effort and costs absolutely nothing. In the work world, I've found that the liberal use of "please" and "thank you" works absolute wonders in getting things done. Purely from a pragmatic point of view, it's worth making them a reflex. If there's anyone out there who has ever done something for me and I neglected to say thank you at the time -- thank you now, and my apologies for having neglected to do so before.
And thank you Grandma for helping me release my inner grump.
