On the Timing of Thank You Notes

A of all, as Chad used to say, we need to write thank you notes. This is an important thing to preserve. Whigwham used to argue that thank you notes diminish the value of saying thank you (which he says, I must add, all too often--many times even before I've done the thing that he is thanking me for, or even if I participate in some activity with him that I wanted to participate in). I disagree. I think that thank you notes complement and strengthen the verbal thank you (perhaps I say this only because for me saying thank you can be awkward, but writing it is less so).



B of all, thank you notes ought to be written some time after the gift is received. If they are sent too soon (within a day or two), it appears that writing the thank you not is a duty to be gotten out of the way rather than a delight. If thank you notes aren't sent for a long time, then it can appear that the gift was not worth thanking in a timely fashion. It is important for the person to know that you had time to enjoy and use the gift and to begin to appreciate it before thanking the giver.