Saturday, January 9, 2010

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie




Even though this is one of my new favorite books, I am not writing about the book. I am also not writing about pie. What I am writing about is niceness. Specifically, I am writing about nice people at the bottom of the pie of humanity.

I've been thinking lately about what makes really nice people. It is a mystery to me since deep down, I am not very nice. I like to pretend that I am and I keep trying to be nicer, but at my core, I am selfish and mean. So one of the hallmarks of a nice person, to me, is that when they talk to you, they like to talk about you. (This is why I like my nice friends.) First, they ask about all my children--and here's a secret: Doting on my children is something I simply can't resist. And nice people ask about things I'm interested in. They also ask lots of questions. Sometimes I play a game to see if I can steer the conversation topic to them so I'm not just talking about me the whole time. It's hard to do. And usually I'm quite happy talking about me. But that is because I am not very nice. There are other things, too, that nice people do--but this is the one I've been thinking about.

Believe it or not, I am trying to be a nice person. I have it on good authority that it's possible to change your very nature, which is good, since the one I came with is pretty self-centered. Luckily, I seem to have an inordinate number of nice friends to learn from. Some of them might even know how to make pie, which would be nice of them to bring me. It's just a thought.

3 comments:

Shiv said...

If your blog had a like button, I would click on it!

For the record, I think you are a very nice person. In fact, you're one of my favorite people :)

Ivy said...

I would say that you're a very nice person as well.

When you surround yourself with nice people (as it seems you have done), it is easier to appreciate their qualities than see it in yourself.

Now me? I'm mean. I'm denying my daughter her choice in breakfast right now... Cheetos.

Treble Clef ♪ said...

Dara...You're back. I checked your blog and there were new posts. Yippee! You are indeed a nice person. It was fun to run into you at my favorite store a few weeks ago:) Oh, and that book is a favorite of Court and Coryn. I have put it on my list to read soon. Hi to all the Jakins.