I went to\u00a0Kohl’s today. Decided I was going to go try on blue jeans until I found a pair that I really liked. I even remembered\u00a0my Yes2You reward coupon (go, me!). So I took Timmy and I looked at jean racks in every area I could find. He pushed the cart. And I tried on like 10-12 pairs of jeans. And I found some I liked. Really fit well. Bought two pairs and a\u00a0few other things and headed out.\u00a0We\u00a0went grocery shopping and then headed home. And after getting his lunch, I sat down at my computer.<\/p>\n
I’d gotten an email. It was\u00a0“from” the manager of the Zanesville Kohls, thanking me for shopping today and inviting\u00a0me back again soon. And all I could think was…SERIOUSLY?<\/p>\n
Now, don’t get me wrong, I like to be appreciated. I’m sure the Kohl’s people are glad I shopped at their store today…it helps their bottom line. But they didn’t notice ME. Their computer saw my number scan at a register which added me to an email list. It wasn’t real. I know it, and they know it. And yet, they have the system in place to send the email.<\/p>\n
But why?<\/p>\n
Because apparently\u00a0we are now so desperate for appreciation\u00a0that we need “the manager” of the store we shopped at to acknowledge us. We apparently need to be thanked for buying ourselves\u00a0new jeans, to be\u00a0patted on the head (via\u00a0email) for going about our day.<\/p>\n
And, the truth is, I hear a lot of\u00a0resentment\u00a0when we’re\u00a0not feeling\u00a0appreciated:<\/p>\n
We don’t feel appreciated, so we get resentful. And resentful people spend their money elsewhere.\u00a0And of course, the Kohl’s email probably does work. Probably somewhere, someone got a similar email to this one and it just blessed their socks off. And good for them. I probably need to be easier to bless.<\/p>\n
But the thing is, if it had been\u00a0a true act of appreciation, I would have been blessed. When a friend takes time from her\u00a0day to speak kindness into mine, to notice me in a positive way, I do feel appreciated. But “appreciation” can never really come from\u00a0a mass email. I mean, would I really not shop at Kohl’s again because no one acknowledged my time in their store today?<\/p>\n
I guess the thing just seemed so strange, I needed to vent about it (and what else is blogging about, right?). Still, I think we can take away 2 things.<\/p>\n
Yes, it feels good to be appreciated, and we need it. But false appreciation actually makes us feel worse. So let’s make true appreciation a mark of our lives. No matter where we\u00a0buy our\u00a0blue jeans.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I went to\u00a0Kohl’s today. Decided I was going to go try on blue jeans until I found a pair that I really liked. I even remembered\u00a0my Yes2You reward coupon (go, me!). So I took Timmy and I looked at jean … Continue reading