# thanking for help received



## carrieaa

Hello:

I am always so grateful for the suggestions I receive to my questions.   Many times the forero will express hope that the suggestion helps.

I am uncertain about how to express my gratitude.  Is it irritating to get a reply in your mailbox that there is a new message, only to go to the site and just see a thank you.  Or is it appreciated?

Sincerely, Carrie


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## cuchuflete

Hi Carrie,

There is no single correct answer to your question.  I am always grateful for sincere thanks.  Others may not feel the same way.  What you can manage are your own expressions of gratitude, not the reaction of those to whom you offer them.

If you feel like thanking someone for their good help, you ought to do so.

Some of the moderators were recently discussing a very small number of foreros who seemed to be "padding" threads with excessive expressions of gratitude.  The intent may be to boost their post count, by replying to every post in a thread.  This of course is just plain silly, and has nothing to do with your question, which is about sincere thanks.

I'll take this opportunity to thank you for being a helpful and considerate member of these forums.

regards,
Cuchu


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## VenusEnvy

carrieaa said:
			
		

> Is it irritating to get a reply in your mailbox that there is a new message, only to go to the site and just see a thank you.  Or is it appreciated?


Let me first ask you the same question: If you received a private message, expressing gratitude, how would YOU feel? ... We're all the same inside. Personally, I love receiving these little thank-yous. 



Nothing goes further than a small "Thank you" and a smile.


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## JazzByChas

Must agree, here.

Human dignity always calls for appreciation of efforts undertaken. Our spirits crave for a "Well done, good and faithful servant." No one wants thier efforts to go unnoticed, and especially not to be appreciated. 

So I say, if you find something has been helpful to you, by all means, offer your most sincere thanks to that person or persons. Human kindness goes a long way in anybody's books, I would think.

P.S. This would be a good thing to put in the "Announcements" sub-forum:

"I would just like to personally send my most sincere thanks to forer@ X for their kind efforts and assistance while I was trying to get some insight into the mating habits of the Cuchu-Bird..."  
_(sorry Cuchu...couldn't resist!)_

As Bugs Bunny might have said, "Shameless, are-ent I...?"


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## el alabamiano

Whenever I receive a private thanks, I always reply with some type of welcome. At times, it leads to more note exchanges; at times, not. Either way, PM thanks are more preferable than to click on numerous unread posts, only to see nothing but _thanx_


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## Fernando

Sometimes it happens that:

1) My help is useful (very rare, indeed)
2) The forero express me his gratitude with a "thanks" PM or post or both.

I dislike this expressions of gratitude but I would not say at any rate that "they are irritating". I do not think WR should do anything to stop gratitude posts.

I simply think they are a (slight) waste of time. On the other hand I appreciate posts from the thread-beginner to "end the discussion": "I got the point. Thank you. I do not need further assistance". They are very useful when the answers have not completed the demands of the first poster.

By the way, I simply do not answer the "gratitude PM/post". They use to end in a niceties circle. Maybe it is a sign of my sourpuss soul. Anyway I would like to thank in this post those who have thanked me (in the past or in the future).


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## panjandrum

In long threads, "thanks" often feature throughout the conversation - either directly or implicitly, as we work together towards a resolution 

In very short, short-lived threads, a quick acknowledgement seems entirely natural.

Sometimes, a question has been around a while, the original poster may not have been re-appeared, and the answers may have meandered ever-so-slightly from the original question or the original question may not have been all that clear.  Thanks from the original poster can be reassuring in those circumstances - even if the post is some time after the thread has otherwise gone quiet.

I guess this all comes down to individual reactions.  Taking into account the round-the-world multi-cultural nature of these forums, that means we are too thanking for some and appear ungrateful to others.


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## Agnès E.

Better a bit overpolite than underpolite.


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## Outsider

I have started to thank corrections through PM. Sometimes, I make an exception, and post on the main forum.


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## carrieaa

Hello:

With a clear conscious I can post this message of thanks to all who gave reflections on this topic. 

I now have a well rounded understanding of the issue.

Sincerely, Carrie


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## You little ripper!

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> Hi Carrie,
> Some of the moderators were recently discussing a very small number of foreros who seemed to be "padding" threads with excessive expressions of gratitude. The intent may be to boost their post count, by replying to every post in a thread.
> regards,
> Cuchu


Why would anyone want to boost their post count? It's not as tho' one gets some prize when you reach a certain number. Or am I wrong here?


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## VenusEnvy

Charles Costante said:
			
		

> Why would anyone want to boost their post count.  It's not as tho' one gets some prize when you reach a certain number?  Or am I wrong here?


No, but a member cannot post links to websites until they have reached 30 posts.  In addition, some members may feel pressure to reach certain milestones, as we celebrate them in the Congrats forum... Just an idea or two..


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## timpeac

Charles Costante said:
			
		

> Why would anyone want to boost their post count. It's not as tho' one gets some prize when you reach a certain number? Or am I wrong here?


 
Amazing as it may seem some people seem to view it as important, Venus has probably hit the nail on the head with the main reasons. Sad isn't it?


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## Monnik

_THINKING TO MYSELF: _Ok, ok... if I make a post here, then that'll mean I'll be at... what, 425, maybe?  Ok, ok, that's good, Mon, keep going...  575 more and you'll get a congrats.... yes, yes... that's good....   but, if someone thanks me for my post, well, then it'll be 426 or so, if I thank them back... well, wow... getting there, getting there... yes, yes, that's good...  Maybe nobody will notice...

  

No, seriously...   I agree a little bit with all of you.   Thanks are always nice, but I've also started to resort to PMs (don't always remember, but I'm getting better!), which I think is a very nice, even more personalized way of showing gratitude.

Oh, and, by all means, let's all be grateful.

   have a good one all...


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## carrieaa

Hello Foreros:

I was wondering about the motive to pad post count also.  I've noticed a few times that a forero had an award listed, "forero of the year" or "most posts".  What is that all about?

Sincerely, Carrie


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## lsp

carrieaa said:
			
		

> Hello Foreros:
> 
> I was wondering about the motive to pad post count also.  I've noticed a few times that a forero had an award listed, "forero of the year" or "most posts".  What is that all about?
> 
> Sincerely, Carrie


We had a contest in 2004, but neither of those 2 titles were ever awarded!


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## fenixpollo

I'd like to sound off in order to pooh-pooh any concerns of "padding" and "distracting, meaningless thank-yous".  

*Any acknowledgement/recognition/thank you inside a thread (or via PM) only strengthens the collaborative atmosphere of the forum, and should be encouraged.*


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## carrieaa

Hello:
Fenixpollo -- that's good reassurance.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





I think I felt discouraged at sending a PM for thanking when I tried to send a PM to someone for this, but got a message that PM's to this person were blocked. 

Carrie


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