Who Me? (A Self-deprecating Soliloquy)

Edited October 19, 2007

The original post found below should be taken with a grain of salt. Rather than delete the post, I will let it stand. Perhaps someone else will learn something from my stumble along the path to living cooperatively. The attitude found in the original post does not represent the values I have embraced in my personal mission statement, and must therefore be relinquished.

As I strive to live cooperatively instead of competitively I have decided to focus on paying it forward, not paying it back.

Special thanks to Nina (and others) who saw through my prickly defenses, and believed I was a better person than I was allowing myself to be. You’re unconditional love and support is greatly appreciated. Nice Does Matter. Thank you.

 

Original Post:

Well, Nina Munteanu is back from her latest convention and she’s at it again. But, this time I must protest. She has bestowed upon me the “Nice Matters Award.” Now I confess, being nice is well . . . nice, but not necessarily my natural inclination.
As you may have noticed, my sentimental piece Born Again was quickly followed by my snarky little post Stilleto. That was intentional. After all, one does strive for balanced reporting, and I’m a complicated chic. The title of the blog says it all. Though I embrace the ideals of matriarchal culture, I am also very modern. I learn and adapt quickly. As a result, I tend to mirror the behavior of others—well to some extent.

I am who I am, but how I treat someone depends primarily on how they treat me. Those who have been kind and generous, receive kindness and generosity in return. Those who have been judgmental have found themselves judged. Those who have been cruel or callous have found themselves cast aside. It’s not that I hold a grudge; I’m just not interested in perpetuating their negativity, or cowering down to it.

Oh yes, I know, many of you are going to say I should be a bigger person and rise above any perceived hostility, but I don’t suffer from a messiah complex and I’m not desperate to belong to any clique, so I can afford to be picky.

It’s not all down side, though. Rest assured, I will not smile to your face and scowl behind your back. I do not waste my time with revenge or the defamation of your character. I’m not Mother Theresa, and I’m not Hannibal Lector. I’m somewhere in between, bonding with others who also inhabit the murky waters of humanity.

So, I accept the “Nice Matters Award” from Nina Munteanu with the disclaimer that it is not a statement of who I am, but a reflection of the friendship Nina has taken the time to cultivate.

Therefore, since I am far from being an expert on the niceties of niceness, I will break from this meme tradition. Instead of passing it on to five bloggers, I will pass it on to five charitable causes: