Remember when people used to be nice to each other?

I can't think of much reason to be nice to the rich and powerful elite who have fucked this country over, but I doubt that the lady in front of me in line at the grocery checkout fits into that category. She's probably just a normal person who is trying to have a life. I don't know any differently. So I don't want to take out my frustrations on her, and I hope she won't do that to me either.

I don't ever think that it will be time to give up all hope. Life is always full of unexpected twists and turns, so the future can go in a lot of different directions that we haven't even thought of. And I know that the way that I react to things plays as much of a role in defining my life experience as the circumstances themselves.

 

Agreed.

There will always be nice people and there will always be nasty ones. I don't think the whole world changed that much.

 

I think that some people get stuck in the idea that most people are nice to kids, so when they remember the past, they think it was 'nicer' then now...

I also think that some people confuse 'nice' with ass-kissing.

Nice is offering someone a hand when they need it... opening a door, offering a meal, a place to stay, an understanding ear...

Nice is being honest and not wasting each others time by forcing us to question which issue you are lying about and which you are telling the truth.

Nice is telling the person who has slipped over the edge, that they damn well better grab a rope you just tossed them.

Nice is considering the victim of a circumstance and extending kindness and understanding to them and not to those who caused the circumstance...

Nice isn't blowing smoke up each others ass to make someone feel better about situations where they should be upset.

 

Just move to California, people over there are so exaggerated super-nice to each other; you'd probably like it .

 

I think its the other way around.

Interweb, mobile phones with cameras


Theres a bit more accountability now, a little less bullshit

Do something nasty, criminal or offensive now, and you've got to worry about ending up on youtube

 

I think that people are actually nicer now. Think of colonization, sexism, and child exploitation in the past. Some people are still gonna b e assholes, but at least now there is awareness. People have to be politically correct in the workforce. When my parents came to canada, people called my mom "kraut" and "nazi" right to her face. No one would try that nowadays. I think the masses are getting smarter for the mostpart. Ignorant people will always continue to be unkind.

 

I would agree that Western people are generally more moral now than they were 100 or 150 years ago, about many important things. My grandparents (who died a long time ago) lived much of their lives in a place where nobody needed to lock their doors at night or even when they left home. That's a pipe dream today. On the other hand, they grew up knowing elderly adults who remembered legal slavery. We've come a damn long way since then. So I guess I've been thinking more about my grandparents' adult lifetime as the polite era.

As the world gets more complicated, we are more tempted to express misdirected anger and frustration. You can't cut off BP or the IRS in traffic, but you can do it to a random stranger who has never done anything to you. And it makes you feel powerful for an instant, even though it is an illusion.

And while we're talking about the definition of "nice", let me say also that I don't feel it includes an obligation to be anybody's punching bag. A better word for that is "weak". I think everybody has the right to defend themselves when provoked. You may choose not to, but it's your call.

 

It seemed like this at first when I moved here, then the buzz died down a bit. Mostly you just see chill people in certain areas

 

I think everything is much less personalized now. We don't walk that much anymore, we drive, and when we're stuck in the car its really easy to become annoyed at the car in front of you because it isn't a person, its a huge hunk of metal. Instead of personally visiting our banks and chatting up the teller, we get direct deposit and handle any issues through a 1800 number. When we grocery shop we go to huge supermarkets and check out through an automated cashier without ever having to speak to a real person.

I dont think people are getting meaner, i think they're just growing numb to personal connections. If you can say something interesting enough to wipe that shell-shocked expresson off someone's face,they usually end up being pretty nice.

 

I will be totally honest and blunt: Nice people scare me. If people are too nice, it's a sign of insecurity, which is a sign of ultrasensitivity, which is a sign that they're likely to take anything you say personally and maybe fuck you up major big time for saying it. Scratch a nice person, and find a Joseph Stalin.

 

Wow you people dont know the people I do...

Sure there is bad out there, surround yourself with as much good people as you can and turn off your TV newspapers, fashion mags makes it easier to be 'nice' to people, bad creeps in, clear it out- start again...

I see so much goodness, and when its bad let the bad people carry it...
It maybe hard but it gets easier goodness is there tap into the vibration.

Life is hard life is a chore life is demanding life is a bore

Sometimes its sensational, inspirational sexual and loveable and sometimes just sometimes its incredible

Remember this and its easy to be good to one and other !

 

i'm a really nice person and i can tell you that it doesn't come from insecurity or ultrasensitivity. I also don't take anything personal; i'm rarely offended by what people say to me. I just don't see a point in not being nice. I think every human has something to offer and I would rather smile and make nice conversation than be a bitch.

 

That's what I've found too. Sometimes I treat it like a game to see if I can change their mood and it usually works. If it doesn't I usually leave or stay silent. I've never liked getting mad or acting like a jerk in return even if it makes me look like I'm not standing up for myself.

 

I don't know you, Meliai, so I can't say anything about that. And maybe there's more to it than just "niceness." I'm just speaking from my experiences. I've known "nice" people who transformed into hateful demons and messed up my life major big time for just trying to have some harmless fun, so I have learned the hard way to be wary of "niceness."

 

Erm...when you say harmless fun, what do you mean exactly?!

 

Playing chicken with a live hand grenade. I don't know why people got so pissy about it...

 

No Wonder "D" Likes To Keep A Safe Distance From You, I Would Too..:hide:



Cheers Glen.

 

Karen, I'm 56 and I have to agree with you. But remember this is from the perspective of someone living in the Midwestern US for over half a century.

There is no simple or single reason why this happened, but I can think of a couple of things.

Consumerism. We are deluged with messages from the instant we are born to buy, own, and consume. We have been taught that owning/consuming is far more important than friendship or kindness to others; and that if we are not consuming more/faster/better than our neighbor, that we cannot be successful or happy. Can you imagine how different you would be, if in your life you had never seen or heard one television or radio commercial or one Internet ad message?

Western industrial expansion. In the West, we have decided that the most important attribute is to be as productive and efficient as possible in order to create as much product and profit as possible. You will pursue these aims with no regard to the impact to workers or to society. This thinking has impacted our culture enormously and it is a big reason why people are not as "nice" as they used to be; they are taught from childhood that kindness and patience are the enemies of profitability.

 

Society today is a little selfish...no one knows their neighbors anymore and no one really cares about anyone but themselves. I do wish people were nicer to each other like it used to be back when we left our doors unlocked and trusted our neighbors...