The Most Overlooked People Who Most Deserve the Gift of Chocolate

• Nursing Staff at a local hospital or nursing home. People often think of bringing gifts to patients or residents...but how about to the dedicated staffers who have been taking care of your loved one(s) 24/7? Let's face it, giving a box of gourmet truffles to your friend who just had knee surgery is a nice gesture, but she most likely will have to wait a long time to enjoy it based on dietary restrictions and recovery time. But bringing a large box to the nurses' station for all to share will show appreciation to the quality of care they've been providing your friend.

• Support Staff at your child's school. It's the end of the school year and of course you'd like to give your child's teacher a gift. But how about extending the generosity to the office workers, guidance counselors, school nurse and custodial staff? Why? Because without them, the school would crumble. These are the folks who make sure your kid gets on the right bus, apply a bandage after that monkey-bar-playground mishap, serve up lunch every day and clean up after your little one uses the restroom. Spread a little joy to these seriously underpaid workers.

• Vendors that you deal with regularly. Yes, you're going to show appreciation to your clients for their business. But it's your vendors who ensure you actually have a business to run. Without suppliers or professional consultants, you wouldn't be able to fulfill your clients' needs. True, you pay them well, but a little extra token of appreciation will not only make their day, but will ensure you are put at the head of the queue when they become overwhelmingly busy.

• The Neighbor You Don't Like. In the perfect world, our neighborhood would be one big block party with residents participating in sing-a-longs and planting a community garden. But if your community is more like Wisteria Lane rather than a Norman Rockwell painting, you will most likely have that one neighbor who makes you want to put up a 20 foot-high concrete fence around your yard. Maybe she's nosy or tries to use you for free babysitting on a daily basis. Sometimes, the only way to fight rudeness is with kindness. What better way to disarm an explosive personality than to spray it with generosity?

• Volunteers at a non-profit organization nearest to your heart & home. This doesn't even need explaining, but I'll do it anyway. Volunteers spend countless hours working without pay simply because they want to. How often have you used your local library without so much as a passing thought about the person who walks around re-stacking the shelves all day long? Or the one who sorts through the countless cans of beans you donate to the local food pantry? A little bit of chocolate goes a long way in showing thanks for such altruistic behavior.
  

Sure there are lots of gifts that can be given to show appreciation...but nothing is quite so intimate and luxurious as a decadent box of chocolate. It screams, "You're Worth It!" way more than a cheese platter or another scented candle.