THE NARRATIVE ARC
My Father Broke the Envelope Rule and I Was Afraid
But kindness and respect saved the day
Sugar and spice and all things nice
Before we can even walk, we enter into the education of niceness. To be nice is to be well behaved, to learn the litany of “please and thank you’s,” sneezes and “God bless you’s.”
Nice is the essence of self-control and self-denial. Nice is the grease of human relationships that makes the world go round. It is bows and curtsies, thank you notes and reciprocal compliments. The opposites are mean and selfish.
The payoffs of nice
When you’re young, you learn that there is a correlation between niceness and the number of kids who want to play with you. Nice gets you invited to the most birthday parties and sleepovers.
In the big picture, “Nice” is the Miss Congeniality Award of life. There is no Mr. Congeniality award because it seemed like the bar for boys became more accommodating over time.
At least half of childhood is about trying to figure out what the hell the things adults do and say. You learn that the best thing is to nod as they ramble on about you, your appearance and behavior. It’s even harder when they start…
