Just Simple Words, Very Seldom Heard

You go out of your way to do something nice for someone and the only thing you expect in return is to hear the person utter these 2 simple words "Thank You". I enjoy being able to offer my assistance to others and I do so without ever expecting anything in return but it sure would be nice just to hear those 2 simple words every once in awhile. Unfortunately I will only hear this maybe 1 out of 10 things that I do.

You fill out an application for employment online or you purchase something online and in your inbox a few minutes later you get a nice email thanking you. Why is the only an automated thing? I do a lot of things for others whether it be some type of online research, or picking up something while I am at the store to like what I did last weekend for my eldest son when I saved him several hundred dollars and drove him down to South Florida. I expected him to at least pay me for the gas down there and for the gas on my return trip but in the end I did not hear the 2 words I expected to hear plus he gave me no money to buy gas for the return trip.

My other son was looking at ways he could make money without having to go out and get a job. I gave him the idea a few months ago about having software designed that there would be a market demand for. I also introduced him to the person who later became his business partner plus I did my own experimentation with different marketing methods to show him which ones would work the best. Eventually the postings I had done on certain forums started to pay off but all my son said to me was that he had visited the same forums a while back and that the sales he was now getting were probably a result of his earlier visits to these forums. Never have I heard from him yet "Thanks, Dad".

A friend in Florida was looking at taking over this software product and I did my part to do a lot of research for him plus introduce him to a lot of people but all I ever heard from him was "Jeff, I am in my fifties and very smart when it comes to business I don't need any of your help" Well, if he had taken my help then maybe he would not now have over $75,000 invested and still not know everything there is about the software. A smart business person would not invest money into a company without first getting everything in writing.

Another customer just bought a copy of my youngest sons software buddypromoter and I was the one that had to email the customer with the download instructions. During the conversation my son asked me to pay him $75 that I owed him onto his credit card so that he would have money this weekend as the money from his sales will not get to his account until next week. Funny, a year ago when my son was $300 short for the money he owed on his car where did he go for the money. Yet I never got that money back from him but he is still saying that I owe him money. No 2 words for the money I loaned him back then or even for the email I had to send to the buyer.

Amazing how all this stuff works out. Think back over the last 20 years I can name of hundreds of things I have done for others but yet only a small number of them ever thanked me. Now I can't say that everybody is like this because I have met some people who will go out of there way just to say those 2 words or at least drop me a note or something.

I remember a dozen years ago I helped one friend that I grew up with by bringing him into my business and teaching what I did. I even went as far as to pay him a salary while he was learning this stuff plus I gave him a place to live. He now make 6 or 7 figures a year but not once has he ever said those 2 words to me or even done anything to show his appreciation. Another one of my childhood friends, when he got laid off of his job with AT&T I bought him a computer with a very expensive software package because in school he was the first person to get me into computers and I always thought that one day he would become a great programmer. I send him this computer and software for XMas a few years ago but the only thing I ever heard from him was that he needed to upgrade certain things on the computer I gave him. Nothing else.

I don't do these things expecting any sort of compensation from others I do it because I can. When someone does take the time to send me a card of thanks or just drop me a line it means so much. Have you ever thought of all the little things in life that we take for granted on a daily basis?

Jeffrey has over 2 decades experience in the business world. When he writes he blends his unique wit and humour into every article which if you rread his blog you can see all of his many works. http://www.nosugarcoating.info/