- The bank support worker, a stranger, who when she finished her shift , hugged me,and told me she was going to light a candle for me when she next went to mass
- The small gift of tinned cat food left by my back door
- A text in the early morning from a friend checking if I was ok
- The choir spontainiously clapping a particularly impressive piece of singing
- A neighbour walking my dogs in the rain when they didn't have to
This morning I listened to Desert Island Discs .
Lauren Laverne ( who is growing on me) was interviewing Russell T Davies and the pair seemed to be having great fun together even when Davies discussed the death of his husband after a long illness.
An upbeat Davies described his husband as " a nice man" and supported the importance of the usual bland description of "Nice" with this reply...a phrase that literally jumped out of the radio to slap me gently on my face
" The World Turns under the March of the feet of all of those nice people !"
So true
So powerfully said
Nice people are so nice, but at times you need mean people in your life, just to get a dose of reality.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am sure you have ticked that box
DeleteXxxx
"It's nice to be nice" is a good credo to live by.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the word is often mocked for its banality. But I live in a village of nice and good people and would be lost without them...
DeleteWe listened to it on Sunday John and were struck by it also. Every now and then a guest comes on and the experience is so encompassing, you find yourself rooted to the kitchen chair, unable to boil the kettle for fear of missing a word they say. David Nott and more recently Wendel Pierce were other such examples. The rapport between Lauren and Russel was evident. She has had a bit of a slating but i think she's finding her feet, big shoes to fill. Nice is complete when used well, as here. have a nice day John,hugs hwyl Suz x
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of us nice people helping the world turn and doing our bit, and you John are one of them for sure. But it's when others take advantage of our nice-ness that they get to see a different side. Mine rarely comes out but when it needs to it does.
ReplyDeleteIlluminati advertisers are not nice … lol ;-)
Nice might be bland but it's a lot better than nasty.
ReplyDeleteI disagree totally..nice isnt bland
DeleteIts just not histrionic
John. I thought of you first thing when I read this. I have to admit I haven't watched one episode but everyone else in the family does. They don't visit often but now that this is happening in my town they all want to visit.lol
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/268155190191063/posts/1043778765962031/
Sorry forgot to say it's the Walking Dead that is filming here
DeleteLauren Lavern is R4's part of the rather lame attempt to attract younger listeners. I miss Roy Plomley.
ReplyDeleteI have a soft spot for kirsty but lauren is very good to be fair
DeleteI'm afraid that after trying very hard to get used to Ms Laverne's style, for me, compared to any of her predecessors, she just doesn't cut it. When she has to announce some of her guests' choices, particularly the classical excerpts, I get the feeling that she's never heard of either the piece or its performers and she had to rehearse how to pronounce the names beforehand. Pity as I've been listening to DID assiduously since the early 1960s and she has yet to prove herself. "Come back Sue Lawley" is what I say.
DeleteI hear you
DeleteI heard Russell T Davies on Sunday and thought he was great and a very "easy" one for Lauren because his niceness and confidence kind of carried it for her. I like the word nice and often use it; it sort of has a built in sincerity when used and I have never doubted it.
DeleteNice people just go about doing good when and wherever they can and they are all around us.....
ReplyDeleteNice is seriously under-rated in this me, me, me world.
ReplyDeleteSo true. We refer to the "me, Me, ME!" attitude as 'Jane moments', remembering that subtext episode of Coupling.
DeleteI find that most people are nice, but a lot of us just don't notice it, or acknowledge it.
ReplyDeleteI think that was the message I was alluding to bob
DeleteI'm constantly forming a web of "nice" people around me, life feels better with them in it. I never think someone is clever because they are sarcastic, critical or has a sense of self importance. People can be selfish if they want that's their choice but I find them cliche and BORING!
ReplyDeleteNice is generally warmth too, I too am drawn to warm people
DeleteI have to tell you that Russell T Davies is himself a very nice man, great fun to be with as I remember...
ReplyDeleteYou could tell that from the interview and his rapport with laverne
DeleteIt is so much easier to be nice and I will never understand mean people.
ReplyDeleteNice is severely under appreciated, especially by young women.
ReplyDeleteAnd a few gay men
DeleteI like to think that nasty people as just nice people with scars and wounds that they can't see and don't realize are there. It helps me continue to be nice even when I am the recipient of their nastiness (OK, maybe not nice but at least quietly tolerant).
ReplyDeleteLinda
DeleteI think you have hit on something important
Indeed vital x
Fuck nice. I enjoy being an advocate of the devil 👿
ReplyDeleteI don't think so Mavis- I think you are really very NICE deep down x
DeleteHe's a sweetie..... but with an edge lol
DeleteAn echo from my childhood is "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
ReplyDeleteBeing as nice as possible is a nice way to live.
Hugs!
Nice is the person who walks up to me to chat in a room full of people I don't really know. I always feel awkward attending social events...maybe I'm not the nice person?
ReplyDeleteAnd perhaps you are
DeleteOver the years I seem to annoy some people- they become furious and almost uncontrollable.I used to try to understand what was wrong and try to rectify it-this only made matters worse and so now I just scarper if possible and leave them with their anger.I like nice x
ReplyDeleteThere should be a National Nice People Day.
ReplyDeleteYou are one of those "nice" people.
ReplyDeleteI hope so
DeleteI will take that
I would like to tease apart what nice means but I'm still ruminating on good, as in a good person. I sense they are closely related. My first thought is a nice person is one who leaves you feeling lighter after their interaction with you.
ReplyDeleteI really like this Susan. And the world needs to celebrate nice people more.
DeleteTo me nice....means warmth
DeleteNothing mediocre , nothing bland
Warm, kind, attractive
Try listening to the previous weeks Desert Island Discs with the actor Wendell Pierce, who is currently playing in Death Of A Salesman in the West End. Lauren is superb as she lets Mr Pierce explain his early experiences, which are the most moving I've ever heard from a "celeb."
ReplyDeleteShe does the job superbly and I still well up listening to the awful, inhumane nonsense people of colour had to endure in the relatively recent past.
John , funny, I listened to him this afternoon
DeleteI had tears in my eyes
Absolutely true John. In the right context the word 'nice' is just the right word as I now find - getting older people are so nice to me when I am struggling to cross the road with my trolley or carrying something to my car. Never underestimate the power of the word.
ReplyDelete'They' are out there.
ReplyDeleteI always remember when I left a job the boss said on parting I was a "nice" person. I felt hurt as I had really acted in good faith always in that job and always went the extra mile for the customers. I always felt it was a mediocre middle of the road response for lazy people who had not a lot to say!
ReplyDeleteJo in Auckland
Ahhhh he never qualified WHY he thought you were nice
DeleteI like to think all my friends are nice less drama that way.
ReplyDeleteTo me, nice means "kind", and it's the quality in a person that I value above all others.
ReplyDeleteI love Desert Island discs.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely selection of comments! Nowadays if I'm debating how to respond to something, I catch myself thinking "Be nice" rather than coming back with a snippy reply. There's quite enough angst about without adding to it.
ReplyDelete