Posted June 22nd, 2004 by Michelle

Write a letter.

I’m serious. You say you are going to do it all the time, flippantly, but do you ever actually do it? Letters are so freaking awesome. It doesn’t even have to be a letter, it could be a note. Just as long as it is written down, hard copy, something that the recipient can touch. This will be the one and only time I suggest you contribute to global warming by cutting down another tree. It’s just that letters mean so much.

A very sweet, young Irish man came to see me a few weeks ago, wondering about the program and lamenting because he could never afford to take a class here. He’s here just for six weeks and then going back to Ireland to open a wine shop. A few emails later I had him registered for a class under a full scholarship. I know what this guy does to make money. He works at a burger joint- upscale, but still a burger joint- where it is very hot and very busy. This is the kind of guy who deserves a scholarship. He took the class, loved it, and then went back to flipping burgers for his last two weeks here.

Two days ago he stopped by my office. I saw him pedal up on an old Schwinn. He came in bearing a bottle of wine and- get this- a letter, a note, a written thought- and thanked me for getting him into the class. He shook my hand and left. The note was so simple, and the wine was Riesling which means he was PAYING ATTENTION. A lesson to all you would-be lovers out there. The note is taped up on my wall, alongside several others of its kind. These words, in particular, mean something. They mean a lot. So the next time you think you should write a note or a letter, even if it’s because you have a complaint, DO IT. Emails are too easy, phone calls to laborious and ask for something in return. A note or a letter is so simple and so giving. It asks for nothing but a little bit of reading time.

So do it.