Second Cup: Send birthday wishes

Let people know you care on their special day

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to send birthday wishes. Well. Many people don't
like a big public fuss about their birthdays. Few people

(00:25):
wouldn't appreciate a personal note marking the occasion, and since
it is very easy to send a note, you should
go ahead and do it now. I will admit that
this episode is a wee bit self serving as it
is first airing on my birthday. But all of us

(00:45):
celebrate a birthday every single year, which means that there
is at least one opportunity to reach out to everyone
you know each year to say something nice and appreciative.
I think a lot of us have gotten a bit
sloppy about this. In the social media era, Facebook and

(01:07):
some other platforms will tell you that someone has a
birthday coming up, which is helpful as a reminder, but
then most of us just post a happy birthday on
someone's feed and leave it at that. It is something,
but we could probably do better. If you do know
someone's birthday or you are being reminded of it on

(01:29):
social media, chances are you also know that person's email address, so,
in addition to any social media wishes, or in place
of them, send a personal note wishing the person a
happy birthday. It doesn't have to be long. You can
simply send them good wishes, recall a happy memory from

(01:52):
the last year, or say something you admire about the person,
Say something you are looking forward to together in the
upcoming year. Then wish them many wonderful birthdays to come,
and sign off. It is as simple as that. This
will take less than five minutes. It might just take

(02:13):
two or three, and it will almost certainly be read
and appreciated if you know the person's mailing address. This
is a nice touch too to send a card. If
it does require a wee bit more planning as you
want the card to arrive, buy the person's birthday, but
it doesn't take that much planning. If you put the

(02:36):
card in the mail three to four days before the
special day, that should be sufficient for most places. I'd
recommend buying a pack of blank cards so you don't
have to go hunting for birthday specific cards, which can
be overpriced or corny. You can often buy quite nice

(02:57):
blank stationary for less than a dollar a card. When
you buy in bulk. If you've got the cards and
you've got stamps, then you are almost always good to go.
You can obviously send a text too, as long as
you follow the email guidelines. A simple happy Birthday is nice,

(03:18):
but a bonus statement or two about the person makes
the wishes extra special, and it really doesn't need to
take more than a few seconds. You can do this,
or here's an idea, call the person. I know that
many people shy away from using the phone as a

(03:38):
phone these days, but if you talk with the birthday
boy or girl at other points in the year, a
short call on their birthday will make them smile. Now again,
I know a lot of people don't like public fuss.
If you are going to throw a surprise party or
rope fifty people into singing Happy Birthday, make sure the

(03:59):
birthday celebrate is the sort of person who goes for that,
And if they do, that's great. If not, a card
or a call is never going to be offensive, so
you know you can do that. If you are unsure
of people's birthdays, it doesn't hurt to just ask. It's

(04:21):
okay to reach out if you know them well enough
that you'd be sending birthday wishes. It's fine to just
ask the next time you're talking, say you're making a file.
If it's awkward, like you've known the person for ten years,
or it's a family member and you've just forgotten, maybe
be discreet about it. But you can probably do a

(04:42):
little slothing and figure it out and then once you know,
mark it on a recurring calendar and you will be
able to celebrate every year. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

(05:04):
our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then

(05:25):
Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me an email at
Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast
is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.
Should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast
is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,

(05:49):
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows. Mm hmm,