tweet! tweet!

About two years ago, a guy I "kind of knew" (we'll get to that part later) told me about this company called Despair, Inc. They make demotivational tee shirts, posters and other funny products. They always joke that if you have bad service, they don't want to hear it. They actually call their customer service department "disservice" and they have three really great Twitters that I follow- they make fun of stupid customers and tease each other about whatever they feel like and they're super sarcastic... My kind of company. Anyways. You can build your own calendar on their website out of their extensive line of Demotivators. What's a Demotivator? Here's two of my favorites. If you still don't get it, then stop reading this immediately.

You can see them all here.

This was the second year in a row that I've made a demotivational calendar for my Dad as a Christmas gift, and this year I decided to make one for my Mom and brother as well (one stop shopping, what can I say?). I wanted to make one for myself as well, (I'd had one for 2008) but at the time I didn't want to spend the money.

So today as I was laying in bed staring at the picture I chose for December 2008 trying to find the motivation (ha) to get out of bed, I decided: Today's the day.

So I made my calendar and I was SO excited about it. I even got free shipping!

When you purchase something from Despair, Inc. they ask you if you want to join their Wailing List (which I already receive- I also subscribe to their Twitter) and they also ask how you heard about their company.

Whenever I've ordered from them in the past, I've left that field blank. But not today. Today, I told the truth.

Q: How did you hear about Despair?

A: A stupid guy I went out on two dates with. Telling me about Despair was the only half way interesting thing he ever said.

(True story. I went out with this poor guy twice about two years ago and they were two of the most painfully awkward dates in the history of dating. It was so bad, I can't even remember the guy's name because I blocked it from my memory. Seriously. If you think you have me beat, we should talk.)

So back to me.

About an hour after I placed my order, I logged into my twitter and squealed with excitement.

They twittered my response!!

See that?? @disservice said my response was AWESOME (emphasis NOT mine!)

This is a two-fold accomplishment because a) I didn't get made fun of and b) I made them laugh enough for them to Twitter it!!

BOOYA!!

No, thank YOU

Okay.
Here's the thing.

There's something that irks me like no other. I really can't figure out why it bothers me so much, except for the fact that it happens a lot and every single time I think to myself "Why is this a big deal??"

It just is.

I email a LOT at my job. People email me requests, I make tasks for them and then I send them work order numbers or tell them what they need to do to fix the problem themselves, etc. I do Helpdesk. It's what I do. I email a lot. So what.
So what?
So what is the fact that 9 out of 10 times, people respond with one of two phrases "Thank you" or "Thanks."
Now, this might not seem like a big deal, except for the fact that I send out close to 200 emails a day. A DAY! (You do the math, I don't feel like it.)

"Thanks."

Really? You sent a whole email just for that? That's all I get? I got excited when I saw that I had an email from you (okay, that's usually not true) and I opened it and all I get is "Thanks"?? Not even a "Wow, thanks so much, I really appreciate that/you etc." I mean, come on. That took ten extra seconds and it's so much more genuine than "thanks."

Oh, and don't even get me started on "thank you" text messages.
The other day I got a text from someone and all it said was "tks" (and I'm not even gonna START with text messages that just say "okay" or worse "k")
UGH!!
It's not that I don't like to be thanked. I do. It's nice to know I'm appreciated and that other people are grateful for something I said, did, gave, information I sent, etc.
But please. Do me a favor...

Don't waste the cyber space.

prayer... and why we're not as important as we think we are

"Prayer is request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion is that it may or may not be granted. And if an infinitely wise Being listens to the requests of finite and foolish creatures, of course He will sometimes grant and sometimes refuse them."
-C.S. Lewis "The Screwtape Letters"

"The infinite value of each human soul is not a christian doctrine. God did not die for man because of some value He perceived in him. The value of each human sould considered simply in itself out of relation to God is zero. As St Paul writes, to have died for valuable men would have been not divine but merely heroic; but God died for sinners. He loved us not because we were lovable, but because He is Love."
-C.S. Lewis