I’m as nice as possible on any given situation. Honestly!

It all started when I was working in the restaurant business. I used to get really mad at all the people who would be nasty to me and my coleagues for no reason at all. Everyone who worked in a restaurant has at least one experience of this kind. I have so many, I can’t even remember all of them.

The restaurants I used to work in were on the beach in Florida. You would think people who are on the beach are having a good time, are relaxed and easy going. Not only not all of them are like that, but most of them are quite the opposite. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t get it.

Anyway, the result of all this is that I made a pledge to myself to be as nice as possible to all the people I will ever have contact with.

It has been a little hard at the beginning. I understand the reasons why people are nasty for no apparent reason: most of the times is because we’re unable to leave our problems behind; it’s a lot easier to take them with us everywhere we go and take it out on whoever comes in our way (especially when that person is in a position that doesn’t allow him or her to fight back, such as a server, a cashier, a customer service rep etc.)

But I kept fighting my natural tendencies when it comes to this and I’m proud to say I’ve managed to get to the point where no matter how tough of a day I had, I’ll smile and say a couple of nice words or make a joke with those who have no fault whatsoever for my bad day.

I don’t want you to think I’ll let anyone walk all over me. Whoever decides to give me an attitude, they’d better watch themselves, as I can very easily become an S.O.B.

However, as I said, if the folks I come in contact with during my day, don’t start a “fight” with me I’ll be the nicest person in the whole world.

How do I do this? It’s not really that hard, once you get used to it. I don’t find it hard at all to put up a smile when I get to the cashier to pay for my purchases. I often make jokes and many times I even make fun of myself. It’s also quite easy to start a short conversation (provided that me doing so doesn’t build a long line behind me). These are my ways. Making fun of myself I learned from a friend of mine who has quite a lot of success with it (when he’s in the mood to do so).

Since most of these people are required by their jobs to be nice with you, it’s that much easier to keep your relationship with them on the same path, by being nice to them yourself.

It’s true that many of them don’t follow the rules and don’t even try to have a decent attitude towards you. However, it’s not really that hard for you to be the better person. Just step over your pride and you’ll see how much better you’ll feel. My experience tells me that in most cases, your atempts will be rewarded. They’ll put aside their attitude and realize they’ve been wrong. That you’re not their enemy. That you do deserve their respect and a good treatment.

The better I get at this, the happier I am I worked so hard to make it something natural (which I now do kind of like out of instinct). It makes me feel better; it improves my bad days (simply by making me forget about the problems I’ve been through); it makes me happy that I made someone else’s day a little better (which happens in 90% of the cases).

That’s why my friends I’m always as nice as possible. Give it a try, and I’m positive you won’t regret it.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 at 4:17 pm and is filed under Human Nature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.