Nice people are like artificial sweetener. It’s sweet, but it has a weird aftertaste and we will always prefer the real thing.
That’s someone else’s statement, not mine. But I agree. You can be a good person without overplaying the nice card. In fact, I generally hold a distrust of overly nice people. There’s a saying that a Texan can smile FU right to your face with phrases such as well aren’t you just something else? Certainly not all Texans so don’t raise your tail and hiss in my direction. But since I’ve been making several trips to Houston the past two years it’s really obvious to me. Most people are more interested in presenting their niceness than themselves.
Now being raised in and around New York I don’t subscribe to this. Let yourself be the statement, not your presentation. And yes I catch shit for appearing abrupt all the time outside my preferred environment. And I probably am … abrupt. I prefer to call it getting to the point. This is who I am and yes I do help old ladies cross city streets too. But I’ll also call out a homeless person for blocking the sidewalk. It’s a side-WALK not a side-STAND.
I always get a laugh when the president gets on Caitlin Collins during a press conference for not smiling. She’s a journalist. She’s interested in seeking the truth, not in making friends. And she’s from Alabama. I love that about her. A Southerner that presses for the truth.
Well look at you.
Now I’m not mean. I’m too insecure to be mean but I do find overly nice people to be a little creepy. I can’t tell when they’re telling the truth or trying to fake me out. Now I’m not proposing meanness … just honesty.
And what encouraged me to talk about this? Yesterday I was shopping at a boutique for infants and children. I was browsing around a while then said to the woman working the floor:
I’ll be back tomorrow when I can make a decision.
Under her breath she muttered:
Why don’t you just F yourself.
With a southern accent.