As I have thought more about this, I made another realization. I really appreciate when people acknowledge/thank me for things that I have done for them, and I have always felt a little guilty about it. I have heard (and agree) that if you need to be praised or admired, stage management is NOT the field for you. (insert standard jokes about "if anyone notices the stage manager, something went wrong..." here) So I have at times felt like a bad SM because of how much it means to me when someone notices that I did something to help them.
BUT I realized that when someone thanks me for giving them a couple snacks because I know they are going to be at the theatre late cueing, for instance, then not only are they taken care of but I know that they FEEL taken care of. Now we're getting philosophical here...I think that whatever I physically do to help someone is pretty important, but probably equally so is that they FEEL noticed and cared for. So if they thank me, I know they recognized my efforts to reach out and help them and it made them feel worth that effort. And that is very satisfying. Does that make sense?
It has been interesting looking at this with a new perspective, and I'm feeling a bit less guilty for appreciating recognition of my efforts so much. I think an important distinction to be made is in the kind of recognition that I like - I don't need/want public recognition, for someone to call me out in front of other people for being so great, but it's when a person comes to me individually and says "thank you so much" for whatever I did to help them, it means a lot to me and my heart secretly swells with happiness.