Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude Journey
Written and Narrated By: A. J. Jacobs
Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
An irritable guy’s attempt at gratitude
Author A.J. Jacobs is verrrry open about the fact that, nice guy tho’ he is, he can be on the irritable side. So when he sets out to thank EVERYbody who’s had a hand in getting him The ONE Thing He’s Grateful For (Mmmm, his morning cup o’ coffee!), it’s really a big deal. EsPECially as he dives into this challenge and realizes that gratitude can run into every single part of the process. Just where does it all end?
Okay, thankful for the cup his morning brew comes in turns into thanks for the paper, turns into thanks for the cutting down of the trees, turns into thanks for the metal the chainsaws are made of, turns into thanks for mining the minerals… and on and on and on.
All right, he’ll limit himself to A Thousand Thanks Yous. And when he starts (Aaaaaactually, ‘twould turn out every step of the way…), he feels like a total boob as he offers his gratitude face to face. It starts with telling the barista who serves him the coffee—He thanks her, she says he’s welcome, he comes back to No, REALLY, I’m grateful to you, which just turns everything all weird.
And that’s the joy of Thanks a Thousand cuz when you get right down to it, yeh yeh yeh, gratitude is all well and good, but danged if it doesn’t make you feel like a dork when ya try to be real about it. Jacobs just dives in, and he keeps on, and things can get awkward as hell, but he never gives up.
Turns out that he feels wonderful after he’s said it, especially when he’s met with true delight by those thanked. The woman who designed and created the Java Jacket that keeps all our fingers from being burned off? DeLIGHTed cuz, as she tells him, her family was struggling, took out a loan to produce the first few cardboard sleeves, and peddled it shop to shop before hitting it big at a coffee expo/convention. She herself is grateful for what the java jacket did for the lives of her family and her, and she truly enjoys that their little invention has been recognized as worthy.
The guy that makes the pallets that coffee beans/bags are shipped in? DeLIGHTed to get a nod of thanks! Tho’ when Jacobs gets in touch with him again cuz he’s wanting to thank the crew that mills the wood? Uhm, well, THEN the pallets guy is put upon, snaps, and Jacobs goes back to feeling like a total boob, that warm and fuzzy glow from Making Someone Feel Good all gone and such all.
Jacobs writes with such humor, and his voice is all pitched high, and it has a bit of a whine to it which greatly adds to the enjoyment of listening to him narrate this himself. We feeeel it when he’s all smug and cocky about a Thank You that went well, and we writhe with him when things don’t go so well and people think he’s nuts. Thanking people is hard work, y’all! And Jacobs doing his own narration only adds to the feeling that we’re on this arduous but oh so worthwhile journey with him!
Jacobs also adds bits of scientific research on how gratitude benefits us all, mentally, physically, spiritually. Plus he goes into just how much DOESN’T happen to us that we should be thankful for. On one day when he’s feeling particularly peevish, he has to stop and start going through all that didn’t happen: He did NOT trip whilst getting off the train; his payment was accepted, and he did NOT get stuck going through the turnstile, etc. etc.
Join Jacobs on the wonderful quest, a journey which should show us all how interconnected we are in this world of ours. Tho’ I shuddered when he read his letter of thanks to hardworking Colombian coffee workers/growers (“Think of how happy you’re making so many people throughout the world” falls flat when they’re kinda sorta at an impasse with the American buyer, Ed, asking for more money), the whole of this journey was splendid indeed.
My thanks to you for reading this, and to tech for designing the device you’re reading on, and to stalwart workers who sold it to you, and to your employers who provide the paycheck you used to purchase it, and to your families for being all quiet so that you might have the downtime required to read this…
And to your parents for bringing such a glorious person into this world…
Truly, I could thank a thousand…
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