Pretzels for the Workers

     Every Easter, the volunteer firefighters in our town sell spring flowers as a way of raising additional funds.  You can see them in front of the different firehouses, doing a brisk business if the weather is good.  As I was coming home from a kindness talk I gave to a Rotary club this afternoon, I passed the firehouse and saw the activity.  It reminded me that I had intended to swing by our soft pretzel store on Main Street and buy a bunch of warm pretzels for the workers, but by this point I was already past Main Street and on my way home.                 

     Nevertheless, I doubled back and returned to the pretzel store and bought 20 of pretzels, fresh out of the oven.  Then I parked a couple of blocks from the firehouse and went to deliver them.  Having lived in town as long as I have, I know many of the firefighters and was glad to greet them personally with my gift.

     Small tokens like these are a nice way to show some appreciation for the sacrifices these people make.  It's the least I can do.

     

Pretzels Make a Nice Snack

     I was out doing a few errands today and decided to stop by the Philadelphia Soft Pretzel store on our Main Street in Moorestown.  It was a gray and dreary day and I was thinking that delivering some pretzels might be a nice surprise for someone to brighten their day with an afternoon snack.  A good idea came to me and I bought a bag of 20 pretzels, hot out of the oven.

     I decided to bring them over to the administration building for our township's school system.  It seems to me that the work of the employees in the administration building is often overlooked and under-appreciated.  Too many people either spend their time complaining about some aspect of the schools, or if they choose to see the good, they're usually acknowledging a particular teacher or classroom.  Rarely does anyone ever note those in the administration building who work tirelessly, largely behind the scenes, to make sure things run smoothly throughout the district.  Today was a chance to say "thanks" to all those people.

     While this may sound strange, I often find that during times like the holidays, the heartfelt thanks we may wish to share get diminished in their impact.  To some extent, a certain degree of gift-giving has become obligatory and so the element of surprise and the delight that can go with it tends to get lost.  My "thank you" to the folks at the administration building has nothing to do with the season.  It's just a sincere expression of gratitude and appreciation  - irrespective of the time of year.  In some way, though, I think the preponderance of gift giving serves to mute the message.  Of course, I'm not suggesting that people shouldn't give gifts.  It's just an observation I've had, and it's why I generally prefer to do things at "unscheduled" times where their potential impact is greater.

Pretzels Say "Thanks"

     From time to time it's nice to show some unsolicited appreciation for those who serve our community.  It's been awhile since I've done that, so I figured it might be just the right act for today.  

     As I was doing a few errands, I swung by the Philadelphia Hot Pretzel store on Main Street in Moorestown this afternoon and picked up 20 pretzels - fresh out of the oven.  They smelled so good in my car that it was hard for me not to sneak at least one of them (I didn't!) for myself.  Instead, I drove them over to the Moorestown police station and brought them inside.  A woman sitting behind a glass window asked if she could help me, and when I explained what I had brought for the officers, she came out to get the pretzels.  She thanked me for my kindness and I was off with little fanfare.  I never told them my name and I didn't leave a card or note of any sort.  This was just a simple, quiet, "thank you."  No attention.  No fuss.

     Surprising people with small tokens of appreciation has become one of my more favorite acts this year.  It doesn't cost much (sometimes it doesn't cost anything), but the impact is big.  Just think of how you'd feel to be the recipient of an unexpected gift or note of thanks.  Yeah, that's why it's worth doing.

Say It With Pretzels

     Every Easter in our town, the volunteer firefighters from one particular station hold a flower sale to raise money for their annual activities.  We always try to support them and, in fact, just yesterday my wife brought home some flowers she bought there.  Volunteer firefighters are certainly some of the most amazingly selfless people in this world.  Think about what it must be like to stop whatever you're doing on a moment's notice to dash off and put yourself in sometimes dangerous situations - all for no compensation other than the satisfaction of knowing you're helping to protect your community.  Well today I decided to do just a small gesture to say "thank you."

     On Main Street in Moorestown we have a great Philly Hot Pretzel place where you can get the best soft pretzels literally right out of the oven.  As if to prove my point, when I stopped by there this afternoon, I had to wait 5 minutes or so because the next batch of pretzels were still baking.  When they were done, I bought 15 piping hot pretzels and drove over to the firehouse where the flower sale was being held.

     Milling around were 6 or 7 firefighters, looking like they had probably been working the flower sale since first thing in the morning.  I walked up to one of them and told him that I wanted to thank them for all their efforts on our behalf, and I gave him the bag of hot pretzels.  As you might imagine, that immediately got the attention of the rest of the crew as it was near lunch time and they were probably all pretty hungry.  Leaving them to enjoy the unexpected treat, I slipped out and headed on my way to run some other errands.

     I find that these types of small gestures are really fun to do.  They're so unexpected, and perhaps for this reason, so appreciated.  It never hurts to say thank you -- especially with pretzels (!) -- to those who do so much for our community.