I wrote this a few weeks ago, but as we enter the holiday season it seems more relevant now than ever. Regardless of your faith or lack thereof, please remember that everyone can be nice. You don’t have to believe in anything or anyone to be respectful and show a little compassion. If not at Christmastime, then when? I know! How about all damn year?
When as humans, did we decided it was okay to no longer be nice? I feel like it was in the fairly recent past. I’ve been pondering this a lot lately along with what happened to folks just doing something for the greater good? I’ll leave the latter question for another time and just focus on being nice.
In the senior superlatives of the West Union High School class of 1990, I was voted “Friendliest.” That made me happy and I still take that title seriously, as I feel quite certain there is someone lurking in the bushes just waiting on me to act like a real asshat and revoke my award. As you might have guessed, I have not received many awards.
I feel compliments are the epitome of niceness and as the old saying goes, “They don’t cost you a thing.” Whether at the grocery store or chatting with a fellow soccer mom, I try to pay a compliment whenever possible. Now, I think these compliments need to be sincere—don’t tell someone with a mullet you like their hair—but I find it is usually pretty easy to spot something about another person you genuinely like. I’m big on nail polish color (although I never paint my own nails), a lovely smile or some fancy pants tattoos.
All my compliments with strangers, make my daughter a little insane. “Mom, you’re just so chatty!” Whatevs. I hope that one day she will follow my lead. Just a few words of kindness can turn around someone’s day and with any luck, they will pay it forward.
I just really want to make America nice again. I’m a very sensitive person and all the negativity can really get to me, so maybe my motives are somewhat selfish. I’m okay with that.
Not all my compliments land. Some totally miss the mark. However, I’m here to tell you, when you are nice to someone and their eyes light up and you can see your words mattered, well, that is pretty fucking fantastic.
While compliments are my bread and butter, also remember there are tons of other ways to be nice. Open a door for someone, help a person with their groceries, pay for their drink at Starbuck’s, give them some grace when the entire world is kicking their ass.
So go out into this world and remember the words of my all-time favorite bumper sticker: Mean people suck.
Angela Traver
What is this blog about? Well, it's a general blog, but it is also a very specific blog. If you get that reference, you get a gold star! I have been a public relations professional and writer of press releases for more than 20 years—primarily in the booze biz. I decided to do some writing for fun and embrace the humor that gets me through most days. Hopefully it will make you chuckle—or at least smile. I’m a certified crazy magnet, and more than a little nutty myself, so buckle up. Also, I have two vices—profanity and red wine/whiskey. You’ve been warned. It should also be noted, that I’m a HUGE Bob & Sheri fan. I’ve been a listener for more than 20 years. This opportunity is a dream come true and it may have made me cry. That being said, I cry at everything. If you are into booze, dogs, food and/or knitting, hit me up on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter (although I’m terrible at Twitter and it scares me) @kyspiritsgal. You can also find all my previous blog posts at www.kyspiritsgal.com.
