I finally got a thank you note from a pilot yesterday

I fixed a static port issue on a CRJ200 that had been grounding the plane for 3 days. The captain came down to the hangar after the test flight and handed me a handwritten note saying I saved their schedule. Stuck it on my toolbox lid, right next to a faded sticker from my first A&P. Anyone else keep little mementos from jobs that went right?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamesblack17d ago

Yeah that part about sticking it on your toolbox next to the faded sticker really got me. I used to think thank you notes were kind of old school or just something people do to be polite but never really mean. Then a few years back a regular at the restaurant wrote me a note after I remembered his wife's dietary restrictions and went out of my way to make her something safe. I taped it to the inside of my locker and it's still there today. Makes me wonder why I ever rolled my eyes at that stuff because now I get it it's not about the note itself it's about knowing somebody actually noticed the effort you put in. That pilot probably will never forget what you did for him either.

jordangibson17d agoTop Commenter

Yeah but what was it about that note that made you keep it all this time? I mean you could have just remembered the moment and moved on but you held onto it. Was it the fact that he took the time to actually write it out by hand instead of just saying thanks on his way out the door? Or was it more about the specific details he mentioned like how you remembered his wife's stuff? Because I think that's the real heart of it right there. It ain't just a thank you it's proof that you were seen and that what you did mattered to someone else in a real way. Makes you wonder how many other little kindnesses we do every day that go completely unnoticed.