#12 Say and Write: "Thank You"

Say thank you and/or please to anybody you encounter.  If you use computer or phone texting, do the same.  People like to be acknowledged.

One summer a long time ago I was asked to photograph a wedding.  I was busy carrying all the equipments and taking pictures from noon until almost midnight.  Interestingly, neither the bride nor the groom thanked me at the end of the day.  It was just a simple, "Bye!  Good night!"  I was confused and upset because I gave my best, worked hard, and even though I was compensated, the little voice in my head kept bugging me, insisting that, "If the bride and groom weren't happy with my work, at the very least, they could have told me straightforward."  I spent days and nights, hours, working on post-processing over 2,000+ images, making certain colors popped up more, increasing contrast, cropping, making certain people looked thinner and more appealing, as well as producing several nice, elegant, wedding albums that would later be sent to the couple and their parents.  Again, to my amazement, the bride and groom never called to say thank you or send a card or anything.  Only the parents of the groom made a personal call to thank me for the beautiful album. 

Understand that even though I was compensated, it would be nice to hear a thank you or a sign of appreciation.  When you hire an architect, a housekeeper, or a taxi driver, even though they will be compensated for their hard work, it would still be nice, polite, and uplifting, to hear a thank you from you, "the boss." 

A thank you is very simple to say, even more beautiful when said with a smile and sincerity, and heck, there's no cost to it!

So, thank you for saying thank you to the people you will encounter after reading this advice, sweetheart :).