Showing Appreciation
In third grade, we lived for a hot moment in Arlington, VA. My teacher’s husband was an explorer of Antarctica. When he returned home, he came into our class and showed us movies of his journey. I remember the penguins. They were everywhere.
Another memory is that this teacher asked us a question during our first week in class. We had to write down our names and two favorite colors. Somehow, I knew this was for a gift she gave each student for the December holidays, so I chose the colors green and red. She made tiny felt mittens, and whipped stitch around them with an initial of our names in the middle of the mitten. She took them and slid it over a small hair clip to create bookmarkers. I used mine for years. Such a wonderful gift to a group of eight and nine year olds showing them that we mean something to her spreading her love for reading.
I learned something from that and have shown appreciation to those I work with in other ways. When I was the Assistant Store Manager (ASM) at Macy’s, the holidays were insane, and the one-day sale during December was chaotic. I was 24 years old and responsible for all of women’s ready-to-wear and cosmetics. I wanted all of the people who worked under the managers who worked for me, to understand my appreciation for their hard work. After all, these people can make or break you, and there are always people like me moving through on to their next promotion.
On my one day off during the frenetic December, I baked about 500 cookies, five different types, that I put into boxes with a bow for each stockroom. Baking for all of these people was a joy, and the appreciation from each of them was amazing. Nobody had ever done something like this for them. I got promoted soon after and would return for store visits overseeing the area I was buying for, and I always stopped and chatted with everyone, because I did something special for all of them.
Fast forward, the executive team at Gotham is growing, and every Wednesday, I make lunch. Sometimes, I make sweets on the weekend and bring them in on Monday, but I cook every Wednesday if I am in NY. I love sharing food with others, so I get a lot of joy out of giving the joy of a meal. What happens is everyone eats at the same time which makes for more conversation among different departments.
One thing sorely needed these days is a lot more appreciation for the people in the trenches. If I had time, I’d also make cookies every week for all the store employees.