| Physical thank-you notes are an endangered species, as many of us switch to texts or email — or just ditch the courtesy altogether. - Why it matters: Jotting a quick note makes you stand out more than ever. More importantly, the recipient will be surprised. They'll feel good about themselves — and you.
🖋️ Dwindling thank-you notes go hand-in-hand with the decline of greeting cards, Axios' Nathan Bomey writes. - CVS, Walmart and other retailers have reduced floor space devoted to greeting cards. Card sellers Papyrus and Paper Source filed for bankruptcy.
"It's hard work to go and find a card, write it, go and find a stamp," says Emily West, a UMass Amherst communications professor who studies greeting cards. - "It's like: Who has stamps?"
But for many occasions, a text or social media DM doesn't cut it, says Danny Groner of New York, who was tickled to get a thank-you card from his boss at venture capital firm Forecast Labs. - "Getting an unexpected handwritten note waiting for you at your desk for no reason at all just meant a lot to me," Groner says. "These are the things that stay with you."
💭 Finish Line's thought bubble: We've written — and heard from you — about the outsized power of small acts of kindness, including thank-you cards. - Even if writing and mailing these cards is going out of style — especially among younger people — it's still important to make sure your "thank yous" to family, friends and strangers are loud and clear.
💡 Pro tip: Keep it short. President George H.W. Bush would dash off a quick note — even one sentence — on a one-sided card. His son, President George W. Bush, kept up the practice (often with a Sharpie), instilling the custom in a generation of Washingtonians. The bottom line: If you jot out one sincere, personal, specific sentence, you've given one of life's cheapest gifts — making someone feel good. | 
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