Thank you to all my dear friends who called or emailed to see if I was still among the living. I'm happy to say that I am! :) I've still got an annoying tickle cough and lack energy, but I'm feeling SO much better! It would *really* help if our weather would warm up. It's still WINTER in Nebraska and we're all so so SO ready for SPRING
!Anyway, on to my smiley story that I can't wait to share with you...
First, I should give you a little background in case you don't know this about me. I've worked at a steel manufacturing company for over 20 years and have an enormous smiley face collection that started at work years ago.
For the first 11 years, I was the receptionist and switchboard operator and took messages by hand. (Remember, this was before voicemail and email! :) When taking a message, I always signed it with my initials and a little round smiley face. Well, one thing led to another and my coworkers started leaving smiley face items on my desk. Over the years, I've changed positions/offices a few times and brought most of the smiley items home to a "smiley room" of their own. Currently, I'm the production coordinator and have what I consider a "few" smiley face things in my office. There is a smiley face neon clock, two framed posters on the wall and a few other smileys around the room. (I've got a previous post here on my blog from Christmas that has a photo of my office and I'll see if I can find it and link it here. )
I digress...now back to my story... last week our company was hosting a tour of the Target representatives responsible for deciding whether or not our company would receive the corporate account to provide all the steel joist and deck for all their new Target stores across the country. As this group was walking by my office to tour our plant, I greeted them and a couple of them stopped and commented that my office looked like Wal-mart!!! :) Oh geez! I think I said something like "Oh no, just trying to keep a positive attitude around here!"
Well, on Thursday the mail clerk called to say I had a package at the front desk from Target. I knew I hadn't ordered anything and wouldn't have had it sent to work, even if I had. Honestly, I had no clue what it was until I opened it. This is the really COOL part of my story...inside the box was the most adorable stuffed dog - "Bullseye" - Target's mascot! Along with it was a handwritten letter from John, the Regional Construction Manager, that read: "Pam, I thought this limited edition "Construction Bullseye" would be a nice way to offset the clearly innocent smiley faces in your office! He will keep you safe from the Wal-mart-esque influence of all those yellow faces. Enjoy!" I've attached a photo of it for you to read yourself. (click to enlarge) Needless to say, I was overwhelmed that he took the time to do this!!! I consider it a true random act of kindness and one I will never forget.
Over the years, I've experienced many situations such as this that have warmed my heart, renewed my spirit, and enhanced my love of the happy smiley face. Time and again I've witnessed the kindness and generosity of others and the positive influence of a heartwarming SMILE!
Sorry, this is so long, but I did want to share it with all of you dear friends in hopes that it brightens your day. Now, I've got some thank you cards to create and hope to have a card to post for you later. Smiles, Pam :)
