It’s another glorious morning at Regency Park in Hazlet (it always is)!
I had to laugh.
Yesterday, I had an email exchange with a vendor who is privileged (and excited) for the opportunity to work with Regency Nursing Centers.
The email I got had about 3 lines of text and the rest was a signature with a complete cacophony of ominous looking titular designations, letters in the alphabet and qualifications all vying for my singular attention at the same time! There were more syllables in there than “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”
Even more laughable was how the signatures and titles were all in bold and italicized (as opposed to the text above it), which is essentially a proclamation that (in the view of the writer) the titles are more substantive than the crux of the email.
By the time I got through all of it, I knew everything about this individual’s life, career and aspirations. I was privy to all but what the sender ate for breakfast.
But it didn’t stop there. Under all of this was the familiar and tedious legalese, replete with the “herewith, forthwith, herein, whereas, etc. etc. etc.”
When I was done reading, my two day migraine had considerably worsened and I was perspiring from the exhaustion stemming from sensory overload.
I mean, fer’ cryin’ out loud, what gives?! Why do I need to know all of this?! Why must I be intimately familiar with all of your ‘titles?’ For what means and to what end?
My own perspective is quite different.
Let me tell you something;
At Regency Nursing Centers, we have a Founder and President who is the envy of the Senior Healthcare community and is much sought after for his counsel and advice. I am sometimes included in his email missives and directives. The man has plenty of titles, degrees and certifications; enough to put the entire alphabet after his name. You know how he signs off? With his name, that’s it (and only sometimes)!
It is the same thing for our Corporate Administrator and Legal Counsel, both of whom are at the top of their professions. They sign off with a name, period.
You know why I think this is?
They are not on a bender of self aggrandizement and self promotion.
Those who know who they are know and those who don’t will soon find out.
This is but a small component of what makes these men so admirable.
Did Frank Sinatra and Muhammad Ali sign off with all this stuff?
NO!
Those who didn’t recognize them, were about to find out; emphatically and unequivocally!
So please, the next time you send me an email, do me a small favor and leave the fluff at home.
Now go take on the day!
Very Truly Yours,
Judah Gutwein
Grandson, Son, Twin Brother, Husband, Father, Loyal Friend, Cantor, OCD Runner, Occasional Firebrand, Regency Fan (ok, BIG fan),
……Who works in the Admissions Department and has (without regret) NO alphabet after his name!
