Thankful

I suppose it has to do with moving so much:

we moved over 3,000 miles across the country from 

WA state to SC state in August

and AGAIN 

from our apartment across town to our rental home

in February.

We signed a 1 year lease...

so we could potentially be moving 

AGAIN

in 10 more months.

**tired sigh**

{yep, if you are wondering... I'm saving my boxes}

Therefore,

I have dealt with 

A LOT OF PEOPLE ON THE TELEPHONE!!!

A. 

Lot.

Too.

Many.

Mucho.

Grande.

Amounts.

It has brought me to 

tears

of frustration

at times. 

A couple of weeks ago,

I was SO ENTIRELY FED UP with someone...

that I actually called the company back.

And complained.

Normally

(sing that!)

I just let it roll off my back...

but their errors and rudeness were

off.

the.

charts!!

Afterwards, 

I took a deep breath.

How many complaints do company's get?

If they hired a lot of sassy ladies like that last one...

probably a lot.

BUT

how many 

COMPLIMENTS?

Really...

take a pause and consider that one.  

I always enjoy a great customer service rep.

It makes me smile.

It makes my day.

The flipping lightbulb

NEARLY EXPLODED

over

MY 

HEAD!!!!

And thus, I have started a little campaign.

 EVERY TIME

I get great service

I let someone know.

I have contacted several restaurants,

the United States Postal System, Sears, Duke Electric,

and various other companies.

I enjoy writing...

so before I do anything, 

I spend some sweet moments plotting out 

exactly what I want to say and how I want to say it.

SOMETIMES..

I give a little boost,

knowing that perhaps they weren't 100% wonderful...

but wonderful enough for me.

I was in my homeland the other day

{Target!  Duh! ;)  }

when I got an unexpected phone call from USPS.

The supervisor lady seemed a little dumbfounded.

"So, I understand you wrote an email

because this postal worker 

SMILED

at you 

and was patiently helping the many people in line-

even though she was by herself?"

Yep.

And it turns out,

Two of her co-workers had the day off

and Three of them had called in sick.

She was by herself there.

SHOCKING.

This Post Office was unusually busy.

The Supervisor herself was there that day,

but had administrative duties to attend in the back...

although I had seen her come up front to assist one customer.

The lady behind the counter was

E X H A U S T E D

and 

D I S C O U R A G E D.

There were at least 10 people in line in front of me...

and within minutes of my arrival

about 6 more showed up

and as one customer left...

one or two came to take their place.

When I got up to the counter...

I made a point of smiling at the

obviously discouraged postal worker

and giving her some of 

God's love and encouragement

that fills my heart daily.

Therefore,

she did smile.

She did.

After...

I spoke with her and tried to encourage her...

After I hung up with the USPS supervisor,

I had a big smile on my face...

imagining the reward/compliment/commendation

the hard working lady

was about to receive.

I don't want you to think that I am wonderful...

I'm not...

this is simply a wonderful thing to do...

My joy meter has been jumping off the charts!

See?

I'm actually quite selfish!

I've been having a lot of fun with this....

and it only takes a few minutes.

Whenever I get a receipt,

with a business's email on it,

I put it by my computer when I get home.

When I pick up my computer to start my writing work,

I first go online and fill out the survey...

and whenever possible,

I leave a compliment.

Hey, it's floating my boat!

In fact,

this has rolled into the rest of my electronic life:

I now leave more comments on people's blogs...

when I find something wonderful...

I let them know.

One of the blogs I follow is I Heart Organizing.

Now this lady gets tons of comments and compliments...

every day.

I know.

Because for some strange reason...

I always look to see how many comments she has.

It seems as if everyone loves her....

so I have never left a comment....

why should I?

I just figured I would be one in a crowd.

BUT,

I've decided that it is NOT about me.

I KNOW!!!

It usually is ALL about me!

I found a pair of big girl panties...

and found out...

THEY FIT!!

So...

I've started leaving her and other bloggers comments,

GENUINE

non-slobbering comments...

I don't expect any return comment...

but I've discovered something

* * it's just giving me joy * *

to pour out a bit of my joy to them.

and guess what I happened to see today?

Well, butter my scorched head and call me a biscuit!!

Shucks!

Notice that I had to take a picture of it...

save it...

put it on my blog...

* * creepy of me * *

yep...

a bit o' pride filled my Jezebel heart.

It feels good.

BRAINSTORM TIME!!

Who are you going to compliment today?

Even if they never know it's you?

Even if you never find out what happened?

PS:

When we decided we were going to move

(the first time...back in WA)

I was not able to tell anybody for months!

And I was dying to say something!!

Instead,

God put His hand over my mouth,

and I had the opportunity to 

actually sit back and watch and listen to people.

I really learned to listen...

and appreciate people...

and then, without revealing my secret, let them know.

They didn't know we were about to move...

but I knew

This experience made a huge impact on me.

I finally had the chance to really appreciate

the wonderful people around me...

to soak them in...

to really listen...

I also was able to let them know over the weeks and months...

what they meant to me...

they didn't know our time together was about to end...

so it made life so

B I T T E R S W E E T.

So wonderful.

* * You aren't guaranteed tomorrow.* *

Go give someone a hug,

go email a compliment,

and let people know you appreciate them.

*  *  *  *  *  *

Hey, are you wondering about the lady at Ulta?

(from my last post)

I actually found her to be

H I L A R I O U S!!

I can't stop telling that story on myself!

A part of that scene will come to my mind at the oddest moments...

and it makes me giggle! ;)

Who can get mad at being told you need pharmacist...

so.

many.

times.

? ? ?