Wednesday, April 21, 2010

N ...n n n n n n n ....

Today something a little different from me … I am taking a break from my compendium and writing about something other than me … I heard that sigh of relief (lol) … today I am writing about something that is bothering me at this moment …. Yup, this very moment.

What ever happened to … Nice? Seriously ….where did Nice go?


Nice used to happen …. It used to be Normal … until Normal got a spin doctor and decided to revamp its image…

Naughty never had a use for Nice … in fact it was once considered the opposite of Nice … Santa used it on his list and the idea was to be Nice … not Naughty. Now the opposite seems to true … sometimes … in fact a lot of times Naughty gets you further than Nice … Naughty gets you more attention, more media hype … and isn’t that what it is all about these days ?

Some people even consider Nasty the New Norm … seriously, who needs Nice when Nasty can outsell every other magazine on the rack??? Kitty Kelly is about to rake in more millions because she writes mean things about Oprah’s past … Kate is mean to John, Brangelina is going to break up any day now, Paris has a sex video, and Lindsay is in rehab … again!!! And these are just the covers of the magazines at the grocery counter … on People – a picture of a pretty teenaged girl … she committed suicide because she was bullied … really … another one??? How many kids do we have to lose to Nasty behavior??? Some people are Narrow-minded enough to think that maybe bullying is just a Nuisance … something that we all have to put up with, something that is Not worth our time to deal with… In a recent study, 50% of parents claimed they had witnessed a Coach being mean to a player (we are talking kids sports here) … And that was just in Canada … we ranked 5th worldwide in meanness … thankfully India, Argentina, Italy and the US were there to “beat” us with that stat … So what do we do to that stat??? … Do we go to the coach of the winning hockey team and ask him to go easier on the boys??? Make sure they play Nice??? ….or do we just pay attention to it for about a Nanosecond and then go Neglecting such situations until they reach Nuclear proportions?

So where did Nice go??? I’m not talking about the “Have a nice day” type of Nice … I am talking about the heartfelt, do the right thing, help your fellow humans type of Nice … are we all becoming much to Narcissistic to even care about it … I mean watch the Jersey Shore or any version of the Housewives ….

Perhaps it just felt Neglected and melted into the Nothingness of Night …

I am participating in Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday meme .... just click on the linky to read some wonderful and mostly upbeat posts using the letter N. There are lots of wonderful ideas and usually some great photography so please check it out! ... and I promise, no ranting next week .... back to the same old compendium of me posts ...

41 comments:

Pondside said...

Nice is so very under rated. I LIKE nice. A nice man, a nice child, a nice experience - when did nice come to mean mediocre? Let's bring back nice!

Natasha in Oz said...

I agree! I wish the world was nicer too!

Best wishes,
Natasha.

Unknown said...

i agree..where has nice gone. i caught an episode of real housewives of new york city the other day and i couldn't believe it. I mentioned to my husband that i couldn't believe how nasty these women are...on national tv mind you! i'm with you...bring back nice, it is twice the fun!!!

Maggie said...

I like nice too, there's nothing wrong with it at all.
Great subject for the N assignment.
~Maggie~

People Who Know Me Would Say: said...

First of all, you're last sentence was like the icing on a cake - perfect!

Nice called a bunch of its compadres: courtesy, manners and respect among them....and they all headed out of town.

It's disheartening at best.

Unknown said...

Nice used to be in didn't it? Maybe it will come back.

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

It's very NICE of you to touch on this subject..I don't see niceness around much in today world anymore!

I love your ranting, and don't mind more of it.

Viki said...

Hear, hear. This was an amazing post. I liked it. I often wonder what happened to everyone being nice myself. Sometimes I think nice is considered old fashioned. Very disheartening.

Izzy said...

it's not just Nice that has disappeared either... where did manners and common courtesy go? great post!

Julie Kwiatkowski Schuler said...

I'll try hard to be extra nice today!

Christy said...

Niceness also left with morality. IMHO!
Nice nice post - and so very true!

laterg8r said...

i think nice has taken a vaca LOL :D

Tracy said...

I like the act of being nice but nice is such a boring non descript word. I really dislike it and try to use more interesting words . The children at school know my dislike of it as well

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said...

Wow, great commentary. It is so true not so much nice left anymore.

Tina said...

Great post. Bring back NICE! We didn't want her to leave the building. And we can jump start her with the whole pay it forward thing! Way to go, Jo.

My name is Riet said...

I love Nice and there is nothing wrong with that. What a great N post

Lola said...

'Nice' is such a 'Nice' word! Let's start a campaigN to returN it to Normal coNversatioN!

Nice post! ThaNks for stoppiNg by - look forward to *seeiNg* you agaiN Next week for 'O'?!

XOXO LOLA:)

Jenny said...

Jo, I so agree with your post today. It's kind of like all the blogs that call themselves "B---h"!

Wow.

I am always saddened by that.

Even if it is mean to be funny how terrible to feel so badly about yourself.

I just try to do nice in my own world and teach my Grands to do the same.

I always think if we all just did several nice deeds every single day the world would be a much nicer place.

And sadly, all of you here aren't the problem.

I can tell by your comments and posts that you all are kind and nice people.

I wish there was a way to start a nice revolution!

Beyond just "have a nice day!"

I am off to have a nacket!

My ongoing intent to use one obscure word in each link to Alphabe-Thursday this week!

Thanks for a thoughtful post on my little journey through Alphabe-Thursday's letter "N" today!

A+

Betty said...

WOW...that was so good! You made some great points and used N words multiple times. You're so right. What's happened anyway?

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

I've noticed that nice seems to be going the way of honest, trustworthy, well you get the picture. It's sad.

I make an effort to not watch television shows that glorify people being jerks to each other or being dishonest, etc.

I loved your post and just want to add "Amen". Thanks for coming by to visit and for your nice comments....

Vicki/Jake said...

Jo, you hit the Nail right on the head this time...
How different the world would be if Nice was the Norm. There are still some Nice ones around and hey, it's gotta start somewhere..again.

NICE post this week, I think YOU should be at the head of the class for this one (o;

Coralie Cederna Johnson said...

You are so right! We really need to turn things around in this day and age. NICE should never become obsolete! I have found that a simple smile can change a person's day so that's my first goal. Thanks for bringing this up!
Have a great weekend!
Coralie

jeff campbell said...

Cheer up ladies:-) Nice is out there. We are just easily overwhelmed by the ugliness shown in the news and on TV, which would have us believe that it is the norm. Turn off the tele, know and believe that "Nice" starts with each of us...Peace and blessings

Kat said...

Rant away! I couldn't agree with you more. I'm so tired of bratty, whiny, Nasty people getting all the press. I know that there are people out there doing ordinary, everyday NICE things, but we never hear about them, and that's a shame. Great post! Kathy

lissa said...

there's so nice people out there but these days it's harder to find but I find that bloggers are the nicest people that I ever know

thanks for your visit

mrs. c said...

YOu know what the problem is....the nice people do not stand up for niceness while everyone wants to know whts happening with the "naughty". Not me, I try to focus on the positive and so do you! Thanks

VKT said...

Wow...you are quite a writer. How succinctly you summarized how we have lost the art of being nice and traded it for nasty!!! Stop by to read mine if you get a chance.

Lourie said...

You are so right. Nice is no where to be found. It is a rare and precious thing. My oldest is dealing with some not nice things right now. It's been a rough road for her and for us. It's just awful to see our kids suffer because of others being nasty and naughty and well, not at all nice. Great post.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Short and Sweet said...

You are so right. What has happened to "nice"? I taught school for 31 years and I heard such hateful things on the playground...primary and intermediate. The younger kids are getting quite nasty these days. I wish that the parents would get a clue!

Jacque said...

Good Morning!

It doesn't pay to be NICE anymore--I don't understand it either!!

Thanks for stopping by the farmhouse for a visit. We love having company! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us on the letter "N" too!!

Have a great weekend!

Colette S said...

Yes naughty sells and get you the friends you want and the money and the notice etc, but alas it is detrimental to ourselves and we will not grow, but wither inside and a spirit bereft of good is terribly indeed.

I refuse to buy into naughty because it's only for a time and good will always shine through.

Unknown said...

I believe in nice and I am not one to sit idly by and let mean people do their thing...We all need to be more proactive and make a stand.....Nice goes a long way......great post. Jo!

Beth Zimmerman said...

Very well said!

easternsparkle said...

Oh so true!

Amanda Lee said...

This was a fantastic post. You are right on the mark.

hayleycreates said...

Hello from way down here at the bottom of all your posts..

Your rants are worth the read.

h.

Sue said...

WOW...just the amount of responses shows how we all feel about this...I am BIG on being as nice as I can. I have a wonderful NICE husband..NICE sons...NICE friends...so NICE is definately not dead Jo...it's all around us and as we act nicely it passes on to others...we may never know how a simple act of kindness changes another person's day.
Examples...
I LOVE doing random acts of kindness for strangers. The other day my son saw a mother and daughter trying to fit a piece of furniture they had bought from the SallyAnne into their car...it didn't fit. He approached them and offered to drive it in his truck to their home. They were so happy.

Last winter when my friend and her family (including her father who is on oxygene and her two little girls) got stuck in snow drifts in NV and had a HUGE hill to walk up to get home a young angel in a truck with chains drove up and took them all home...thats all he was doing that evening..just helping folks get home.

In my life...nice lives and grows...

There is definately nasty out there..but we can change the way our community feels by working to be so nice we make people sick!!! LOL

GREAT POST!!!

Anonymous said...

We live in a society where being naughty (or nasty) is celebrated in reality tv shows, tabloid magazines, and pop culture, which millions of people around the world watch, read and cheer for. Kids berate each other as they see others do around them and aren't corrected for doing so.

Being naughty is always an option, but I'm raising my children to choose Nice. It's a choice that people have to make, they either choose to be Nice or they choose to be Nasty. It's not an easy choice in today's world. The older generation appreciates it and give thanks for Nice, but the younger ones question and tease Nice. In my home we choose Nice. I want to honor my children and my self, I want to lift them up to their potential and have them feel good about who they are at the end of the day. Nasty doesn't feel good and so we don't choose it.

Great post Jo, I'm loving what you are writing these days.

Steph said...

I'm for a resurgence of nice!

Sue C said...

Another Nifty post that's very thought provoking.

Nice is not gone, it is everywhere around us - and it is a very simple thing to toss out into the world.

Turn off the TV - bad News sells, don't add to the ratings.

I make a point of looking people in the eye and smiling at them when I walk down the street. The surprise in their eyes and the returning smiles show me how easily we can Revive Nice.

Love your rants Jo. You are such a talented writer.

Personalized Sketches and Sentiments said...

One more here in agreement to "NICE"! It truly doesnt take much to be nice, right? Ah...at least, I feel it is so much easier to be nice and it really makes ya feel so good inside and out!

Thank you so much for stopping by and for your sweet comment. My hubby and I had a wonderful time up at my dad's (the 26 hour drive to my dad's from our home in Georgia to his home in Wisconsin was well worth it :o) Thank goodness though for the midway stop to sleep and visit with our kids who are all at college in Kentucky :o)

It was straight back to work for me, so haven't had a minute to catch up really on blogging, but I want to try to reply to the wonderful comments left on my N post.

Blessings & Aloha!