Thanks.

It's probably the biggest benefit of working where I do.

 

I keep all the positive responses I receive, but two handwritten notes stand out.

One was from an anonymous reader received just months after I'd been handed the title of sports editor here. It talked about how the section had taken such a tremendous change for the better since I'd been there and how the paper should do everything in its power to keep me.

The other was from a fellow dying of cancer who I did numerous stories on. Though it turned out he had just weeks to live, he found time to thank me and tell me how much the story meant to him.

I guess I don't expect them, but deep down I hope for them once in a while. It kind of helps verify that I do a good job - something my bosses don't do.

On days when you're feeling down, it can be good to pull out an old thank-you note and remember you're not as bad as you think you are.

 

We got a thank-you card from a semi-pro football team. All they did all season was complain that we didn't cover them enough; then we get a card thanking us for the great coverage. I would think they were being ironic, but that would almost be giving them too much credit.

 

During my small-town Texas days, every time we ran this one kid's picture in the paper I had a tall jar of chocolate-covered almonds on my desk.

Does that count?

Or how about the time many years ago I was told to take a $20 bill for attending (bedrudingly, of course) an AARP meeting?

 

Two hand-written notes so far. One from a long-time basketball coach following his retirement. One from a mother because she really enjoyed the (obscenely basic) signing story I wrote about her daughter.

 

yeah, pretty standard, it seems. though at my last stop the very first story I wrote for the paper on a kid getting drafted way late in the MLB draft wound up getting a card and a hand-written thank you. mom was a coach at an area high school, too, so got the chance to thank her in person.

they don't happen often, though I do get verbal thank yous from coaches at the smaller, area schools whenever we're out there, which is nice. a few thank me every single time we are out there, which is cool, because they know there are 12 other things going on that night and we elected to cover them.

I also try to make it a point to send a quick thanks in reply. it's far easier with e-mail, and I tend to tell them how much the note meant just because we don't get stuff like that often. thankfully, like mikey, I'm now in a place where readers are far more appreciative than anywhere I've ever been.

 

Don't know if you folks have noticed this, but ever since we started allowing comments under our stories, my e-mails positive and negative have plummeted maybe 90 percent. Nobody writes to me when they can say what they want to say to the world.

 

Funny you should mention it. My hometown paper (Moddy's old haunt, as it turns out) did a recent feature on a church kitchen my mom has volunteered at for years. Story quoted her and used her voice in the audio that went with the online slideshow. The paper did a great job, and I e-mailed the reporter to tell him that.

And now that you mention it, I should forward my note to his boss.

Back on topic: I've gotten a handful (like 5 or less) of handwritten notes in 16 years in the biz. Can't remember when or for which stories. But the e-mailed hate mail? I can just about recite word-for-word some of the meaner ones. Go figure.

 

I cover recruiting (among other things) and have to do one in-depth profile a week on a kid. Talk to the coach, talk to the player, the like. For many kids, it's their only big, extensive write-up until they get to college. I take extra pride in these stories and always send copies to the coach and player.

I've gotten one thank you, and I know exactly where it is. The next time I talked to the kid, I told his mom I said thanks (insert punchline here). I also got a thank-you when a hall of famer spoke at a FCA event nearby and the organization itself wrote me thanking me for covering it.

 

my mother calls me once a week to tell me what a great human being i am.

 

Your mother lies.

 

and yours looks good barking on all fours. what's your point, sparky?