On Being Nice
So here I am today, being spoiled rotten. We are spending the next few days at a resort here in Napa while Scott and his co-workers attend a planning conference. The place is beautiful, the surroundings are peaceful, and everywhere the people are NICE!
Yesterday, as we were pulling out of town, we decided we would run by McDonald's to grab a Coke for the road. I'm a diet Coke girl, and Scott is a "regular Coke" dude. When we drove up to the window to pick up our order, the young man handed us our drinks and then began to apologize profusely because he hadn't marked the lids with which one was diet and which one was regular. My husband was so sweet to that young man - saying it didn't matter -we were married and had been drinking after each other for years, just laughing it off and telling him not to worry about it. He was just so NICE to the fella! (By the way, my husband is almost ALWAYS nice!)
When I first met my dear friend Bonnie, she was in the middle of raising some fine young people. She said she always told them as they were leaving home to be nice and be good. So as the years passed and my young ones grew up, guess what became the parting greeting? "Be nice. Be good." It kind of turned into a joke (you can say those words with funny accents, odd tones of voice, etc.), but it was sound instruction every time the boys left the house.
I often hear stories of married couples who are having "issues," and when I hear the way one or the both of them talk to teach other, I think I may be on to at least part of their problem. They're just not NICE to each other! Scott is just so stinkin' NICE to me, I'd be a durn-fool idiot to not love him! In my opinion, being nice to each other would go a long way towards healing some really hurting marriages.
Politics - yep, everybody has his or her own opinion on how things should be run. But I can't imagine that anything will ever change if we don't at least start off by acting in a civil manner to each other - listening, being respectful, and of course, just being NICE! Once we show genuine kindness to each other, we can discuss, agree or disagree - but with understanding, not malice.
Today, here at the fancy hotel where we're staying, I've had NICE exchanges with at least a dozen people. Doubt that I'll ever see any of those folks again, but their collective kindness has made my day. Okay, maybe it was all in the name of customer service. But if I ever have to come out this way again, I'm thinking I'd like to stay where all those NICE people are!
So my challenge to myself? Be nice. Be good. Praying that someone has been EXTRA nice to you today!
Yesterday, as we were pulling out of town, we decided we would run by McDonald's to grab a Coke for the road. I'm a diet Coke girl, and Scott is a "regular Coke" dude. When we drove up to the window to pick up our order, the young man handed us our drinks and then began to apologize profusely because he hadn't marked the lids with which one was diet and which one was regular. My husband was so sweet to that young man - saying it didn't matter -we were married and had been drinking after each other for years, just laughing it off and telling him not to worry about it. He was just so NICE to the fella! (By the way, my husband is almost ALWAYS nice!)
When I first met my dear friend Bonnie, she was in the middle of raising some fine young people. She said she always told them as they were leaving home to be nice and be good. So as the years passed and my young ones grew up, guess what became the parting greeting? "Be nice. Be good." It kind of turned into a joke (you can say those words with funny accents, odd tones of voice, etc.), but it was sound instruction every time the boys left the house.
I often hear stories of married couples who are having "issues," and when I hear the way one or the both of them talk to teach other, I think I may be on to at least part of their problem. They're just not NICE to each other! Scott is just so stinkin' NICE to me, I'd be a durn-fool idiot to not love him! In my opinion, being nice to each other would go a long way towards healing some really hurting marriages.
Politics - yep, everybody has his or her own opinion on how things should be run. But I can't imagine that anything will ever change if we don't at least start off by acting in a civil manner to each other - listening, being respectful, and of course, just being NICE! Once we show genuine kindness to each other, we can discuss, agree or disagree - but with understanding, not malice.
Today, here at the fancy hotel where we're staying, I've had NICE exchanges with at least a dozen people. Doubt that I'll ever see any of those folks again, but their collective kindness has made my day. Okay, maybe it was all in the name of customer service. But if I ever have to come out this way again, I'm thinking I'd like to stay where all those NICE people are!
So my challenge to myself? Be nice. Be good. Praying that someone has been EXTRA nice to you today!
