Four paragraphs on Gratitude

I recently mailed a package at a post office in Oregon to Spokane. My books needed to be returned because my most recent class had ended. Like so many times before, I expected an email confirmation that they had been received. But the email never came. I called the school and they said that they had not received my books yet. I looked for my receipt proving that I had sent the package but quickly remembered that I threw it away. The one time that I needed the receipt that I almost never needed, I didn't have it. Argh.

I called the post office in Oregon and the woman who answered the phone predictably told me in a tone that suggested she had answered the same question about 6,700 times that there was nothing she could do to help me if I didn't have my receipt with the confirmation number on it. Unsurprising that a government employee would not help me, I thought to myself, and hoped for the best that my package would turn up before the return deadline. But I gave it one last shot and submitted a query to the USPS web site with my detailed information. 

The next day the manager at the Spokane post office said that he received my query and would dig into his files and try to find my package. I was blown away but still didn't expect much since they deal with so many packages every day. Sure enough, the next day he called me again and said that he had looked for quite a while and had found my confirmation number. The package had indeed been delivered to the school so it was the school's fault that they had not received my books. I couldn't believe that the manager had taken so much time to help me when he didn't have to do so. He could have just told me that he couldn't help me. I was so impressed with his gracious act that I wanted to show my gratitude.

I submitted another query to the USPS web site expressing my gratitude that the manager had helped me in the hopes that it would get forwarded to someone in charge of something who could recognize this guy for his hard work. The next day I got a voicemail from a manager at the Spokane office telling me how much it meant to her and the other workers that I recognized their efforts. She was practically emotional in her gratitude for my gratitude, saying how they have to deal with a lot of difficult people and how much it means to them when they are praised for their job. The next morning another manager called me and said that he wanted to honor the manager who helped me and wondered if I had remembered his name (I hadn't). He also said that they deal with a lot of difficult people and expressed how much it meant to him and the rest of the folks there that I had expressed my gratitude. I was blown away by how much my simple gesture meant to an entire group of people. It has inspired me to work harder to express gratitude, especially for the times when people go out of their way to help me. Sometimes the simplest acts are the ones that mean the most.