Be nice

I love saying hello to people. From old friends to complete strangers, I enjoy the simple ice breaker of a polite greeting that initiates conversations. Regardless of whomever, I do my best to go out of my way to be nice. I love making friends with cab drivers, security men, shop attendants, hawkers, washing bay attendants, bank tellers and so on. It is amazing how much you can learn from these people if you are willing to make the effort to treat them with some respect. A few days ago, after I had closed from work, I had to join a very long queue to take a cab home. As luck will have it, the clouds let go of their pent up content of rain and we had to quickly run for shelter. After standing in a shed of a kiosk for a while, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around only to see the smiling face of a young taxi driver asking me to follow him. Apparently he had seen me in the queue and not wanting to cause a stir has parked somewhere to call me to board his vehicle. I was overwhelmed with relief. This was a driver I had engaged in conversations with a couple of times and we had developed a civil acquaintance. It was after we sat in his car that he told me, he singled me out because I was nice to him. 

Another significant event was when I urgently needed to complete a bank transaction or disappoint lots of kids who were expecting a big party. It was almost 2 pm when I walked into the banking hall and the first worker I encountered had a red eye and I could see he was in a lot of pain. Coming from a medical background, I engaged him in a conversation and gave him a few ideas on what to do and what medication to apply. After this conversation I moved to the banking sector and saw this very long queue and at that point I knew I would have to disappoint the kids. Just as I was about to turn around and leave, this worker walks up to me, takes my details and in a matter of minutes I was smiling on my way out of the bank. All he was said was, thank you for being nice.

Ever had someone treat you with absolute contempt and rudeness? How did you feel? Bad, right? Very bad I imagine. Well, guess what? Everyone you have ever been rude to felt the same way. The same kind of disgust you felt when someone was disrespectful, ungrateful or simply nasty to you is the same disgust everyone you have been nasty to also felt. Being nice is actually one of the easiest and most profitable life changes you could activate in your own life. It is simply a matter of sowing and reaping. Investing in a nice attitude, almost always brings good returns. 

I am not naive enough to claim that people you are polite to will always treat you in the same way. Some people are unabashedly rude. They are simply nasty! Unrepentantly ill mannered.  But you see, being nice is not just for other people. It is also for you. Being pleasant is a gift you give to yourself.

So from today, make up your mind to be nice. Treat everyone with respect. Never look down on people, especially everyday folks. One day, they might save your life or help you avoid a big mistake.

It is really nice to be nice.