Nice People


  • 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 

53 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:23 am

    Nice people are so nice, but at times you need mean people in your life, just to get a dose of reality.

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    1. And I am sure you have ticked that box
      Xxxx

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  2. "It's nice to be nice" is a good credo to live by.

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    1. Although 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...

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  3. We 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

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  5. There 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.

    Illuminati advertisers are not nice … lol ;-)

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  6. Nice might be bland but it's a lot better than nasty.

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    1. I disagree totally..nice isnt bland
      Its just not histrionic

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  7. 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
    https://www.facebook.com/268155190191063/posts/1043778765962031/

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    1. Sorry forgot to say it's the Walking Dead that is filming here

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  8. Lauren Lavern is R4's part of the rather lame attempt to attract younger listeners. I miss Roy Plomley.

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    1. I have a soft spot for kirsty but lauren is very good to be fair

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    2. I'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.

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    3. I 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.

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  9. Nice people just go about doing good when and wherever they can and they are all around us.....

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  10. Nice is seriously under-rated in this me, me, me world.

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    1. Barbara Anne3:25 pm

      So true. We refer to the "me, Me, ME!" attitude as 'Jane moments', remembering that subtext episode of Coupling.

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  11. I find that most people are nice, but a lot of us just don't notice it, or acknowledge it.

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    1. I think that was the message I was alluding to bob

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  12. I'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!

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    1. Nice is generally warmth too, I too am drawn to warm people

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  13. I have to tell you that Russell T Davies is himself a very nice man, great fun to be with as I remember...

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    1. You could tell that from the interview and his rapport with laverne

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  14. It is so much easier to be nice and I will never understand mean people.

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  15. Nice is severely under appreciated, especially by young women.

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  16. I 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).

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    1. Linda
      I think you have hit on something important
      Indeed vital x

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  17. Fuck nice. I enjoy being an advocate of the devil 👿

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    1. I don't think so Mavis- I think you are really very NICE deep down x

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    2. He's a sweetie..... but with an edge lol

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  18. Barbara Anne3:28 pm

    An echo from my childhood is "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

    Being as nice as possible is a nice way to live.

    Hugs!

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  19. 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?

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  20. Over 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

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  21. There should be a National Nice People Day.

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  22. You are one of those "nice" people.

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  23. 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.

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    1. I really like this Susan. And the world needs to celebrate nice people more.

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    2. To me nice....means warmth
      Nothing mediocre , nothing bland
      Warm, kind, attractive

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  24. 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."
    She 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.

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    1. John , funny, I listened to him this afternoon
      I had tears in my eyes

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  25. 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.

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  26. 'They' are out there.

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  27. I 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!

    Jo in Auckland

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    1. Ahhhh he never qualified WHY he thought you were nice

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  28. I like to think all my friends are nice less drama that way.

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  29. To me, nice means "kind", and it's the quality in a person that I value above all others.

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  30. I love Desert Island discs.

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  31. What 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.

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I love all comments Except abusive ones from arseholes