Of Note

In my mail the other day, along with the Val-Pak coupons and unsolicited credit card offers, was a small envelope the color of kraft paper. I thought maybe it was an invitation of some sort, but it turned out to be a note--a hand-written one, at that--from Lands' End Canvas, thanking me for my recent purchase.

That's the second time I've received a hand-written note in the past couple of months (the first was from J. Crew's customer service, after the hat incident), and it's a great finishing touch, such a simple and smart way to cement a bit of positive afterglow in a customer's mind.

But I do wonder what percentage of these companies' customer service employees have handwriting that's actually legible, because no one writes anything anymore. My own cursive writing is atrocious; in high school I got in the habit of printing all my class notes, and now I can barely sign my name, and my printing isn't that great either. Perhaps they are being sent to refresher penmanship classes?