Later, when my sons were teenagers and Michael Jackson was the world’s musical role model, it was a compliment to call someone "nasty". It meant clever, maybe a little sneaky, but overall, very, very good. It was also a compliment to call someone “phat”.
Most of that time, “nice” was a bad word. It meant that you were quiet, unassuming, and perhaps a little simple. To call someone “nice” was to write them off as being boring and naïve.
In the movie “Grease”, Sandy was not attractive until she began to dress in skin tight pants and ground a cigarette butt under her high heels. It seemed like the bold and the brave, those who took what they wanted, had all the fun, while nice girls stayed home alone.
Recently I read a book called “The Power of Nice”. It has a wealth of examples of how nice people are happier, healthier, and often more fulfilled as people.
I love it. There is real power in being nice. It benefits the recipient of the nice acts but also the giver. Nice has always been a good quality to have.
Is there someone you need to be nicer to? What can you do to make the world a better place? Can you pay someone’s parking meter, smile at the bank clerk, or donate to a charity?
You owe it to yourself to enjoy the benefits of being nice to others.
N is for nice.
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