Dan Hough

Make My Day

Published 16 January 2016 in London, UK

When was the last time someone told you, “You’ve made my day.”?

For one Hackney landlord I suspect yesterday was the time that someone most recently told her this. On my way out of the office[1] yesterday, my phone notified me of a voicemail I’d received during the day (my phone is normally on Do not disturb mode during a weekday). Expecting yet another lettings agency offering me yet another room in a part of London completely different from my needs, I listened with my finger poised to tap the virtual 3 key and delete the message.

A woman began speaking with a very professional, formal tone. It sounded like she’d uttered these words many times over the last few days:

Hello, I hope this is the voice mail for Daniel. My name is Emelia[2]. Um, I do have a room in my house which I don’t think is going to be suitable for you at all because it’s in Hackney…

And then her voice became a little more lighthearted and friendly:

…but I just wanted to say, you have the best advert[3] I have ever read on Gumtree. Thank you very much and I really hope you find something. Bye bye.

My expectations were completely off, and I beamed. What a nice way to start the weekend. It took only a little effort (and perhaps some risk of embarassment) for her to call me but it had a huge effect of my mood and how I was feeling about my search for a place to live in London (which as you may expect can have extreme ups and downs). Thanks, Emelia.

So I replied, thanked her, and told her that she’d made my day. And she had – honestly. It’s nice to be able to tell someone that they’ve made your day. Wouldn’t it be nice to hear it, too?

Next time you see an opportunity to make someone’s day by some small act, grab it – no matter how well you know the person. Forget about the potential embarassment, just go for it, and hopefully you’ll both feel a lot better for it.

And to you, reader, I say a very happy, if belated, 2016.

Footnotes

[1]: I have a new job working with Digi2al on an exciting new project.
[2]: I’ve changed her name, of course.
[3]: My advert on GumTree

Heckle me on Twitter @basicallydan.