Do one nice thing today

Today I celebrated "Do Something Nice Today"

When I was in junior high and high school, by student body vote, someone would be voted "Most Polite" or "Nicest" in the school. I always thought that was quite an honor, but it was not always the most envied award, when compared to Most Popular. I was pleasantly surprised most years that the students really could identify the nice people and select someone that really truly deserved it.

Today people are not encouraged to "be nice" very often. You're more likely to hear things like Nice guys finish last or No more Mr Nice Guy or even Must be nice! said enviously when one hears of another's good fortune. I sometimes long for the days back home when you'd regularly hear, It's nice to meet ya or Have a nice day. Those are still common phrases you hear around the South.

I can still hear my Mom say: Think nice thoughts. Or, it never hurts to be nice. And, of course, the one you likely heard: If you can't say something nice about someone, then say nothing at all.

I found some interesting quotes about niceness:

• At home I'm a nice guy; but I don't want the world to know. Humble people, I've found, don't get very far. (Muhamma Ali)
• Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. (Bill Gates)
• I've decided to cut out the part of the speech where I say something nice about Democrats. (Ann Coulter)
• Nice to be here? At my age it's nice to be anywhere. (George Burns)
• Always be nice to people on the way up; because you'll meet the same people on the way down. (Wilson Mizner)
• Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home. (Phyllis Diller)
• If you live long enough, lots of nice things happen. (George Halas)
  

I think we'd all be able to celebrate life more often if folks would just be nicer. You may have heard about a survey conducted by ABC News "20/20" about rude behavior. I believe that Oprah recently covered a rudeness survey on one of her shows too. It's easy to recognize the rude behavior around us: the loud cell phone discussion in public or the annoying ring of a cell phone during church. Just recently Hugh Jackman called someone out for a ringing cell phone during his Broadway performance. Don't you just hate it too when someone is in the express line at the grocery store with more items than allowed? It's just not bad math skills!

It's surprising to me that many consider rude behavior to be so acceptable. I'm still offended when people curse around me. However, I don't think I blush as much as I once did though. I don't like it when people start working on e-mail when I'm trying to talk with them in their offices. It's annoying to hear the keyboard tapping during teleconference calls as people multi-task during discussions. Some are not nice enough to at least mute their phones. I am still surprised when people make or take cell phone calls during conversations. I especially am annoyed when friends make or take cell phone calls when we're out dining. I'm generally nice though -- and generally just bite my tongue, waiting patiently for the phone conversation to end.

Today I found an article about a movement and book by Debbie Tenzler about being nice. It's called Do One Thing Nice. She encourages people to pick out one day a week to do one thing nice. That does not sound like a hard thing to do.

Today, I encourage you to be nice, recognize the nice people you meet, and to do one thing nice each week.

Image credit: http://www.doonenicething.com/_images/d1ntbook.jpg