I Appreciate HBD – Thank You!

I like and appreciate it when someone tells me, “Happy Birthday.” It doesn’t matter how it’s done either. Card, call, text, or social media. As the kids say, “It’s all good!”

So for those of you who told me this (or any) year, “Happy Birthday!” Thank You! I loved hearing from you, and I appreciated it!

For those who didn’t wish me a happy birthday, look out! I’ll be watching you!

My Thinking on Birthdays

Seriously, I do try to wish everyone a happy birthday (if I know about it). It’s a kind and simple gesture that doesn’t take much effort. Plus, the cumulative effect of having many birthday wishes is kind of sweet. All those connections can really add to the magic of the day.

I also choose to take the time to reply to each birthday wish. Apologies if you don’t like that, but, I’m committed because I love the concept of maintaining the “loose affiliations” that social media affords.  More on that here.

I do have a dirty little secret I want to share. I’m not proud of it, either.

The Birthday Wish Scorecard

When I’m prompted by Facebook signaling it’s so and so’s birthday, I click, and then, when faced with the prospect of having to actually type something, I pause and ask, “Is this person really worth the clicks it takes to spell out happy birthday?” 

I mean, if it were just one click, as in the “Like” button, I’d be all in for everyone’s birthday. But I’m a very busy man!

From there it devolves into a scorecard situation, “Good friends will get the full, happy birthday, not so good friends will get a simple HB. Those in between will get either a “happy” or an HB with a single exclamation mark.”

As ridiculous as this seems, I’ve been told I’m not alone in this thinking.

Struck by the insanity of what I was doing, I decided, what the heck, I’ll just go ahead and tap in the full “Happy Birthday” to everyone, irrespective of friend status. In fact, while I’m feeling so magnanimous, I’ll even include the exclamation mark and make it a full fourteen clicks of digital love and appreciation!

Now if I can only stop doing this while driving!

Again, thanks for all the BD wishes, and know that your fourteen clicks are on the way!