As one of my 9th grade teachers put it, “life is not fair.” Well put. She should have also added that some people are just not nice. How can you be positive and rise above those who are obviously on some sort of bizarre power trip?  That’s a very good question and one that I would love to have an answer to as it would help me greatly in my day-to-day interactions.

Here’s a little background story for you…

The first job that I ever held was as a cashier at Wal-Mart. Oh yeah…good ol’ Wal-Mart. After a few months, I was able to land a spot as the cashier in the pharmacy, which was definitely WAY better than being on the front lines. If I ever learned anything about the Power of Being Nice, it was at Wal-Mart. So many people would come through the lines-either in a hurry or just off from a really bad day at work-and would just be down right evil to the person behind the counter. There was no way to be fast enough or pleasant enough or clever enough to make them happy. So, as a last resort, I figured the only thing that I could do was smile at them and say, “HAVE A NICE DAY!” as they left the register. Hmmm…they probably just cursed me in their mind as they walked away from the counter. Ahhh…what did I care, I was only 16.

I’ve found this trick to work quite well in other situations. Now, I respond to all of my emails with, “have a nice day” or “have a wonderful day” or “take care and smile” or “have a fun day” or “have a fabulous day”.  I tend to hand type this message every single time I prepare an email, and I type it out before I actually craft the email. Typing this phrase out beforehand ensures that I think about being nice before saying something stupid.

O.k. so this backstory brings me to my main point about people who are on some serious power trips. My question is, “what gives people?” I mean, come on. Are you really so insecure that you feel you have to prove your power? Do you feel as though you have to talk louder? Or talk more often to make a point? Are you really making a point? Or are you just talking to hear how you sound out loud? Do you ever really question why things are done in the first place? Do you get to the problem before accusing the person delivering the news? Why do you talk over people without hearing the other point of view?

For some reason, I always seem to find people who are on serious power trips. As I get older, it gets harder and harder to be ‘nice’. Sometimes I just want to blurt out, “you’re being a pea brain.” But, I don’t.  The Power of Nice always comes through, and I always manage to win people over. But, I guess I have to wonder…is there a better way to be assertive (with a smile) and let people know that they really need to get off their high horse?

http://www.erikawatters.com/