Recently, in the glow of the introduction of H.R. 592 and S. 314, I had a conversation that reminded me how important simple “thank you” notes are in these days of electronic communications. Following is a blinded story from one of our most active members:

Tom,

It was such a pleasure to attend the meeting yesterday. Per your request, I am sending you a note to share a story about my national representative who was one of the leads on H.R. 4190. 

I work closely with our state pharmacist legislators to advance pharmacy practice locally. During a recent meeting with our state senator, he shared with me that when he ran into our Congressman at a holiday party in December, the Congressman mentioned that he didn't receive any thank you notes from our state pharmacists for H.R. 4190. We were mortified! While several pharmacists, including myself, went to DC to thank him personally for his support as part of policy week, none of us had followed up with a written thank you note. Our state pharmacy association talked about sending a thank you note; however, for some reason, this didn't quite get done. While we were all elated and thankful for our representative’s support of the pharmacist provider bill, a simple handwritten thank you could have done wonders to ensure he fully understood how important this issue was to us and how thankful we were for his support.

This legislative session, our thank you notes have already been sent with more on the way! I learned a couple of things from this experience. First, that legislators actually pay attention to written correspondence from their constituents, and second, that it is important to convey thanks and support in multiple ways: face-to-face, via telephone, and in writing.  

Best,

One of APhA’s most active members!

While the names have been changed to protect the innocent, you get the picture. Let’s not just ASK for support, let’s make sure to thank those who do, as well.