What Happened to Nice?

Happy Wednesday!

So I was at lunch the other day and it was just me and a friend at the table while my other friends went to go get lunch. My friend sat down in one of the open chairs and I went to get a stack of empty chairs so my friends wouldn't have to awkwardly stand with their trays as their food got cold as they scanned the commons for chairs. As I pulled the stack, my friend (who was at one of the only chairs at our table and had started eating lunch) said to me, "You don't need to do that. They can get their own chairs." I was stopped what I was doing and said, "Yeah, but it's the nice thing to do." She kind of shrugged and rolled her eyes.

This isn't the first time that I've been told to stop being nice to people. I've had some friends tell me I'm "too nice" and that "being a sweetheart will get you nowhere in life". I usually roll my eyes or say a snarky comment right back at them because I think they're wrong. (I'm working on not snapping at people or being rude to them, but I'm not a big fan of people (especially friends) who like to tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing. (I'll also stop right there so then I can save you from hearing my rant about how that comment gets under my skin.)))

This made me think about the lack of niceness in our society. I'm serious! Where did all of the nice people go?! People have gotten so involved within themselves that they forget about everyone else! Think about it: Do people stil hold the door open for others? Do people say please and thank you? Do people apologize when they run into others? Probably not.

I mean, there are lots of different definitions of what it means to be "nice", but I hardly ever hear people  call others nice. Why? Because the nice people all left! (Rumor is that they live a small, secluded island where it's always sunny and they eat warm chocolate chip cookies every day and the only way to get there is by a parachute (Oh man, that was a really, REALLY bad attempt at being funny...I feel like I should delete that because it's so bad.)))

It just kind of sucks when I think about it. Being a nice person goes a long way! You are more drawn to nice people because they seem less intimidating. You can build relationships with people and more doors are opened! And people will speak more highly of you because it shows that you're a good person! I'm speaking for myself here, but I really like nice people. I'm more comfortable around them because I feel like they're not gonna be mean or rude. It makes situations so much more comfortable when there's someone nice around.

So I beg to you (all of you imaginary people), please be nice! I'm not asking you guys to go build houses or donate all of your lifesavings, but just be a good person! Do the small things for people: hold doors open, say please and thank you, be respectful; all of this stuff that our mothers taught us at young ages that it seems everyone forgot!

Please be nice. It will pay off.

Love,

Katie