Thank-You notes from the Modern Gentleman come from a single box of stationary I purchased when I was at the University of Sussex in Brighton, U.K. The cards are blank on the inside and picture old advertising posters that were intended to entice Londoners down to the seaside.
But I currently only have one box of notes. It is reserved for the certain type of person who can really appreciate a Thank-You note. The kind of people from whom you will get a phone call from that day, thanking you for your Thank-You note.
However, not everything is a Thank-You note occasion. Some of the most routine transactions in our days are never acknowledged. Sometimes a quick email is enough. Most people do not like to be thanked into a corner.
This is why The Modern Gentleman has started sending out Thank-You Postcards.
If you ever have me over for dinner, I will send you a 3×5 of Mark Twain’s guest room in Hartford. These cards only take a few minutes to write, but I like to get very specific. “Thank you for the lovely chicken dinner at your house on Thursday. Tell Bianca that she cooks a mean potato, and tell her Grandmother that she brought her up properly. It was really great to hang out with you guys in real life, and not just in the nightlife scene…and you have such a lovely apartment. I hope you have a great life together and that I can return the favor very soon.” I like to keep it fresh and simple and make many references to inside jokes that were born that night. This helps, especially if you were on a wine-and-dine rampage.
What is wonderful about these postcards is that they become notorious. Someone else will visit one of your hosts, see the postcard on the fridge, and say: “Let me guess, the Modern Gentleman stayed with you when he was in town last month?” And then there will be two people, usually ladies, nudging their husbands and asking why they never write thank-you postcards (ruffians). And on your next visit, you will find that your postcard never seemed to have left the refrigerator or the bulletin board at that particular house. How charming.
One thing the Modern Gentleman cannot stress enough is the fact that you needn’t have money or connections, or even the latest fashion styles to be classy, courteous and well-received. You do not have to come to every party with enough champagne for everyone. You don’t even have to have suit pants and a tuxedo jacket made by the same designer. But if you are having a wonderful time with someone, and you would like to do it again, a Thank-You postcard is all it takes to assure your next invite.
Example 1: Last week the Modern Gentleman read Alma Mater, a book written by one of his former professors… (if interested, you can buy it here).
When I was at college I was very intimidated by him (he had that skulking presence of a writer-in-residence, which I had no idea came from being a defeated freelancer who was forced to teach creative writing). I sent him an email halfway through reading it to tell him that a certain passage really touched me.
