Yes, Thank You Still Counts!

     Ours is an era of mass e-mails and bulk correspondence.  Of junk mail delivered directly to our doorsteps.  Of millions of websites featuring billions of opinions from anonymous sources, ranging from the thoughtful to the absurd.  Of phone calls to banks, doctors offices and businesses that are answered by dehumanized automated answering robots.
      Yes, there's no doubt this is the age of de-personalization, and it has been for years.
      Which is what made a tiny occurrence in my little world this week seem all the more special.
      My friend and business associate Susie Mathieu celebrated a birthday this week.  As it is the law in most jurisdictions (kidding), I wished her a happy day via Facebook.  And lo and behold, she replied to me with a personalized, individual response.  In fact, it appeared Susie replied personally to EVERY one of her Facebook friends who had wished her a happy birthday.  In some cases her response included a joke or very specific response.  In other cases, the replies were more generic.  But everyone who took the time to congratulate her received a personal reply.
        It's not surprising.  Susie, the longtime public relations director of the St. Louis Blues hockey team, is a savvy PR pro who made a successful career out of treating her clients in the media well.  In addition, she's just good people.
        It IS refreshing -- refreshing to see someone take the time to issue personalized and individual thank you's to her more than 250 Facebook friends.
        Personally, (get it?) I view it as one of those "little things that say a lot".  Cumbersome?  You bet.  It would sure be a lot easier to post a "blanket thanks" on your Facebook wall.  But small things like personal thank you's should placed in the category referred to in the customer service business as "going the extra mile."   I'm fond of a saying: "It's hard to go wrong when you do the right thing."  I think that's the case here.
        Thanks for giving me Just a Minute, or so.....As always, your comments welcome!