(image from Simplesong)
To enter the drawing, just leave a comment on this post with a little NICE anecdote. It can be as simple as a sentence.
Here's mine:
I was pretty invisible in high school, but in my 12th grade English class, our prom queen, who sat nearby, said, "Hey Melissa. You have the best voice. I always hated my voice." I actually don't like my voice at all, but when she said it, my nerdy high school self was beyond flattered. It was so minor, and I'm sure she wouldn't remember it today, but I will NEVER forget how special it made me feel.
Your turn! I'll pick a random winner on Wednesday, August 13th, and that person will receive this beautiful 8 card set from Simplesong. Also, because Suann is incredibly generous, she has offered to send the winner a few extra letterpress goodies! Is it wrong to want to win my own giveaway?
31 comments:
my NICE anecdote...
mine goes back to the high school days as well. i wasn't miss popular, but my friends were. i was mediocre- and my friends were pretty above mediocre and i was fine with that. i didn't shop at the expensive stores and, of course, in high school you don't feel like you live up if you don't keep up. one day my friend looks over at me says, "becker, you always look cute." for whatever reason, it's always stuck with me and i repeat that to myself every time i'm having an off day... and then i don't feel so bad.
people are LITERALLY the worst when you are visably VERY pregnant... i've had doors slammed in my face (or should i say belly) but walking into target, an old man held the door for me and asked me when i was due. made me feel not so grotesque and invisable. :) and i actually told him that i really appreciated his kindness and HUMANITY and that it was so NICE to have somebody treat me like a person and not a social disease.
devon - I cannot believe people were so rude to you when you were pregnant!
Mine has to do with singing too: I was sitting with my FIL one day - and we usually don't have much to talk about besides the weather - anyway, somehow the topic of singing came up (I think it was something to do with the fact we just got a piano) and I said I wouldn't want to damage anyone's ears until I had some singing lessons under my belt. He turned to me with a really surprised look and said "Really? I always thought you had one of the nicest singing voices." It was so uncharacteristic of him and it made me feel really good.
I just found your blog, and so far I've enjoyed reading it.
Here is my story. One time I was grocery shopping and I heard a middle-aged man speaking so sweetly to his wife. It was so nice that it made my head turn. I was thinking I've got to see who this man is because you don't hear people talking so nicely like he was. When I turned around and saw his face, I was incredibly happy to see that it was my Uncle, and that I was related to him! It really made an impression on me. It was very uplifting to me.
That's great news Melissa!
My nice anecdote:
I am very clumsy. Once, I fell down some stairs and really hurt my hip. It was in a crowded restaurant and although people stared, no one helped besides this woman who walked over to me and held my hand. She helped me into a chair and tried to calm me down because I was crying. I was so embarrassed, but more in pain. She waited with me until my dad came to get me. She was really kind to me and I was grateful that she was there. To this day it irks me that no other person came over, not even restaurant staff. I just hope that more people like her exist.
Okay, I thought of an even better one, and I know I already entered, so ignore this for contest purposes - I just had to relate this story:
When I worked at my old job, I was also the head of the social committee. I had been doing a lot of work, trying to fund-raise and get people interested in participating, much of which was met with groans and resistance. One day, I came in and my desk had been decorated with streamers, etc. Then my co-workers gave me a card signed by everyone in the office in honour of "Cherrill Appreciation Day". They had a cake, a gift and took me out for lunch. I was so touched I cried! And one of my co-workers continued to remember September 16th as "Cherrill Appreciation Day" for a couple of years after - even when she didn't work there anymore - and sent me a card every year. I can't believe I had almost forgotten about that. Thanks for your blog for reminding me!
My nice story is a very recent one...
I worked with a photographer last week and I was nervous because it was the first time that I'd really art directed a photo shoot on my own. Not only that but I was also playing the part of 'stylist' (the scarier part for me). The photographer gave me the biggest compliment when he said that if we lived in the same town he'd actually hire me to be his stylist because I had a talent for it. That just totally made my day. He said he wasn't the type to pass out compliments about people's work or strengths but that he had to say so in this case. Gosh... I think I must have been blushing. He has no idea how that made me feel.
Aww, these stories are wonderful!
Cherrill, the compliment my prom queen gave me was just about my regular speaking voice! I was much too shy back then to sing in front of anyone! Of course, now I post karaoke videos of myself online, so I guess I've, um, matured.
Last weekend I was trying to find a rental truck so that I could pick up some things for our new place and get some "hauling errands" done. Nobody in town had a truck for rent because this is move-in/move-out time in college town. My co-worker overheard me and just offered to let us borrow her truck. Her husband just brought it over and dropped it off! It was really nice of them! I appreciate things like that so much.
mary, that is AWESOME esp since people are so STINGY with their trucks. i guess people are sick of people taking advantage of them.
mel, that is so weird that you said it was a comment just about your reg voice, did you see my comment the other day about how much i like your voice!? deja vu.
What a fun contest! My NICE story is this:
My husband and I recently traveled to Paris and one night we were at a restaurant with no English translations on the menu. We struggled over the menu for a while and the couple at the next table could tell we were having trouble. They leaned over and asked if they could help us make a selection. They spoke some English and we spoke no French, but by the end of it we ate a delicious dinner with their help. I was especially thankful because I was expecting stereotypical rude French people, but everyone we came in contact with was super nice and helpful.
Wow! The stories are so great! I'm going to participate! :-)
Maria's NICE Story:
My parents originally moved from Puerto Rico temporarily (we were exploring Arizona) when I was 12 and my brother was 14. A series of events left us practically without a home in Puerto Rico so we were forced to stay in Arizona. My parents spoke very little English and eventually they each found a job. My mom was working 2 horrid jobs. One as a clean up person in a construction site and the other in a retail clothing store. My dad worked in a warehouse. They still couldn't recover financially. At this point our clothes were only coming from a thrift store. Christmas came and I had made friends with an 11 year old girl (Kel) that lived across the street. As we were struggling financially we couldn't afford anything Christmastsy. It would be the first year without a tree or presents. It was literally a 180 from 6 months before we arrived in the US. It was probably the hardest year for my parents. Somehow Kel's mom found out because she showed up at our door with a beautiful fresh and green Christmas tree. It's not so much about the tree but going out of her way to relieve the struggle. The tree meant so much to us. I will never forget her act of kindness. I'm sure it meant even more to my parents!
When you give, you receive and when you receive, you should always give!
Maria
At my grandfather's funeral, this woman came up to me and introduced herself as his housekeeper. I didn't know he had a housekeeper as my mom never mentioned it, but in the last years of his life, he was needing more and more help. I lived a few hours away, so I always wrote letters, sent postcard and little packages to my grandfather to let him know I was thinking of him. Anyhow, this woman said to me that she felt like she knew me from all the letters I had written and how my grandfather talked of me and my family. She said she could really tell how much he loved all of us. It was just really nice to hear since that day was particularly hard for me (still is since i am tearing up writing this) and it was nice knowing how much he really did appreciate it.
pposwaps(AT)gmail.com
Thank you for passing on the NICE!
I started reading your blog right before I went on my last vacation with my mom and best friend. My mom and I were rushing to make a connecting flight to get home, and we barely made it on to the airport terminal shuttle before the doors shut. We were both very stressed and slightly panicked about making our flight. On our shuttle, there was a young gentleman with blindness in both eyes. He began to have a conversation with my mom and I, and he was so full of energy and enthusiasm that he had soon incorporated 6 more people into our conversation. We parted ways with smiles and nice trips, and because of him, my mom and I spent the rest of harried trip laughing and smiling. His joy was simply infectious. :)
Mine just happened a few hours ago. Because today was a special date—08.08.08—it happened that I knew three people getting married today! I went out of town to two different cities for two of those weddings. About five minutes away from the second wedding, while still in a strange town, I was in a very bad car wreck, and my car was totalled. I won't beleaguer you with the details, but it was a terrible afternoon. Gratefully, I only got banged up and the people in the other car (TWO MOTHERS AND THEIR CHILDREN) were terribly scared but safe. The medics came, the police came, the wreckers came, and they all left, except for me. I stood there, on the corner, still very much in shock, waiting for a friend to come for me from four cities away. A lady who lives on the corner and who'd seen the accident came out and asked me if I'd like to sit with her on her porch till my ride came. It helped me not to have to stand there with my stuff in a plastic sack, shaking in my shoes. She was very sweet. Her name was Cookie and while we sat there she opened up and told me about her daughter who'd committed suicide two years ago. I was able to relate to her because I've had two dear ones kill themselves, my dad and a friend. I found out she was from North Carolina, four hours from where I grew up. (The West has taken both our accents from us, so you'd never guess.) We had as much of a heart-to-heart as two strangers can when one is recovering from shock. She gave me a bottle of water and sat right there with me until my friend came. She is one of those people who has responded to tragedy by making it her business to help others at every opportunity, and today I was the recipient of her kindness. I was pretty scared and friendless out there, and it was even beginning to sprinkle. She was an angel.
Not too long ago I was at the supermarket with my baby. He was about 10 months old and I had him snuggled in the front carrier on my chest. He is a big baby and I am a little person. By the time I had made it through all of the aisles and filled my cart I was having some difficulty reaching into the cart to get the groceries and place them on the checkout belt. There was a woman leaving the market who stopped, put her packages down and asked me "may I help you please". My pride almost made me shoo her away with some silly "no, no, I'll be fine, thanks anyway" but my back really hurt and my baby was cranky. I thanked her and she helped me unload the groceries. That's it, the whole story. But it wasn't just a little gesture. It was huge to me. She took time from her day and noticed me. She (and I know this seems maybe a bit extreme) restored my faith in people's goodness and renewed my energy for quite a long while.
I like to think that I stop and help whenever possible and I always tell my (older) son that I'm spreading good karma and that people who do nice things have nice things done for them. I told him the supermarket story and he said "You were right Mom, your good karma came back to you!"
About 10 years ago, my friend and I went to pick my sister up at the Miami Airport. It was about 2 1/2 hour drive each way. We didn't mind since it seem like a road trip. Anyway, coming back up, we suddenly saw that the traffic was slowing and people were stopping off the side of the road. Then we saw why. A truck has rolled over and there was a man under the truck, He was stuck, but very much alive. We stopped without hesitation. It seems that everyone who drove by stopped as well to help this person somehow. To make matter worse, no cops, no fire tuck or ambulance in sight and there were machinery inside this truck which makes it impossible to lift, but we all got on the side of the truck and started pushing up or trying somehow to lift it enough to get this poor man out. We eventually succeeded. It took a lot of man power just to lift enough for someone to drag him out. It's something that I will never forget. What looked like a tragedy turned into a blessing. He did survived, but we left shaky and shaking our heads because it seemed like we walked out of a movie.
Can I nominate Geo or Mrs Maria? I think either one should win. Or can you split up the winnings?
Keep up with NICE!
NICE is my husband. Every time I ask him something - like, "What should we have for supper", he says, "Something easy", (that's nice) or I'll say, "I'm tired, I think I'll lie down, he'll say, "Of course, go lie down." (that's nice) or I'll say, "Will you?" He'll always answer..."Sure." Nice = my husband. He's so nice.
I love this. (Thanks, Geo, for the link!)
My nice story happened a little over a month ago. It happened that my infant son and I were alone at the airport (Dh's license had expired. He drove home to get more i.d. and took a later flight). It was a little stressful, with messy diaper, no place near our portal to sit (I fed him on the ground), etc. Then he ended up spitting up a huge amount on the tiled floor. I didn't have anything with me to clean it up, and I didn't want to leave it or others might slip and fall. I ambled off just far enough to tell an airport worker about it and she said she'd send somebody. Nobody ever came. So I stood, guarding the spot, too worn out to problem solve any better about other cleanup options. Finally the gentleman next to me noticed what had happened. He got some papertowels from the bathroom and cleaned the whole mess up for me. He continued to chat about his own children and grandchildren, an left me feeling much more relaxed and very grateful for his kindness.
What a nice giveaway, and so many nice stories! Here's mine: This weekend, I decided to run some errands with my one-year-old ("A"). He is a fabulous and good-natured little boy, but it is still relatively high-maintenance to get things done with him. I went to The Container Store to pick up a few things, and I carried A in a sling. As I struggled to put a couple boxes in my cart, a man came over to help me. The lady at check-out didn't make me take anything out of the cart - she came around the counter - and she engaged A as well to keep him occupied. Then another employee walked with me to my car so she could put the items in my car and take the cart back to the store. All of these people helped make my errand-running much more smooth. I love how little acts of kindness such as these add up to a happy day! Thanks! - Mary W
In high school my science teacher had everyone write something nice about everyone else in our class. She then compiled all of them and gave us each a small sheet of paper with everyones anonymous notes. Not being the most popular, it was really nice to see that everyone could think of something that was good about everyone else. I still carry it in my wallet to this day.
First of all...what a great site this is!
I'll go with my most recent nice anecdote....
A total stanger on a busy NYC street the other day told me she loved my red dress. Thought it looked great with my skintone.
That's it! But I felt good the rest of the day. :-)
My mother-in-law came over last week to watch my two kids while I went to a class. After she left I walked into the kitchen and it was clean! Not only did she take care of a 9 month old AND entertain a precocious 4 year old, but she CLEANED my kitchen too, and didn't even mention it.
"Kindness is contagious. Let's spread it together." - my own thoughts on being nice.
I think it's so nice to give these away and no it's not wrong to want to win your own give-away. :) They are delicious.
Ooh, I have one...a very very LONG time ago, my husband and I bought our first house. Although we were on a pretty tight budget, I desperately wanted to send out cute "we've moved" announcements. A reader of my blog (and I of hers) offered to do them, and refused to let me pay her. The announcements turned out beautifully, and every time I see the leftovers sitting on my desk, I smile and think about what a gracious and generous person Melissa is. Hee hee! You are - and I am so impressed by this new website. It cheers me up every day!
Okay, so maybe I should come up with some new material - so here's another one:
I was driving back to college in Nashville after a long summer at the parents' house in Tulsa. 1/2 there, my timing belt broke and my little Neon died on the interstate in the middle of nowhere Arkansas. My cell phone had died, and I was 6 hours both ways from either Tulsa or Nashville. I just stood on the side of the road and whimpered - wondering what in the world I was going to do. I hadn't seen an exit for miles when I was driving, and from where I was standing, there was nothing but interstate ahead.
A semi pulled over, and the truck driver offered to give me a ride to the nearest phone. Although I was really scared of getting help from a stranger, I decided to risk it. The sweet man waited with me for over an hour while I waited for a towtruck. He even bought me a Sprite and tissues b/c I couldn't stop crying. I will never forget his kindness with his time and his tissues!
Last year, I went to visit a friend in Portland. We were on our way to the Columbia River Gorge when we decided to make a coffee run for the drive up. Portland has a lot of drive-thru coffee stands, and the line of cars was extra long today due to the rainy conditions.
Because the line was so long, I decided to run out and go through the walk-up line instead, which was empty. Upon approaching the window of this very small (maybe 10x10?) coffee shack, I was amazed at how many people were crammed inside (5 or 6) and were literally tripping over each other trying to prep everyone's orders. So stressful - even to me from the outside!
BUT, when I approached the window to give my order, the woman at the register calmly said, "Hi, how are you?" and then paused as to wait for my answer. This small gesture took me completely by surprise. She wasn't harried or irritated. She was so pleasant. And, I think that if I had said, "Oh, things aren't good. I'm having a really bad day" she would have actually taken the time to hear what I had to say.
This is just an example of how taking a little time out of your own stress can make a big difference to other people. How often do we ask "how are you?" and then continue on without actually listening to someone's answer?
This incident also cemented my view that people in Portland are sooo nice. Almost southern-nice!
Well I figured I should add the nice thing I try to do everyday, well at least every workday. You see I work near the Capitol in Washington, DC and take the metro to work. Well when tourists come out of Union Station (the nearest metro station) it is a little confusing if they are trying to get to the capitol since you don't have a direct view and there is an awkward halfmoon traffic circle and several lanes of traffic to cross. Anyhow, I often spy confused looking tourists as I get out of the metro staion and always try to ask them "do you know what you are looking for?" Most of the time they are headed for the capitol or one of the Senate office buildings, last night there was a couple trying to find their hotel on a small side street, and this morning it was a happy British family who was "just out for a look around..." Anyhow, my little nice way of welcoming visitors to this great city that I'm lucky enough to live & work in.
I was about five months pregnant, and went in for a checkup to find out my midwife was busy delivering a baby (what was she thinking...lol) so they asked if I could see another midwife, who I had never met.
My husband and our 10-month-old son was with me. Now, this pregnancy was obviously a huge surprise, and I was completely overwhelmed at the thought of taking care of two babies! And I could not count the time people told me to "Look out for those second babies...if I had my second one first, I never would have had another..." etc. So the new midwife comes in and is commenting about how good my son is, and I said that we were hoping for another one just like him. She said, "Well there's no reason to expect anything otherwise." That was exactly what I needed to hear. During the following four months of pregnancy, I repeated that to myself almost daily.
Fortunately, she was right. Our baby girl is just as sweet and happy as our son, and I'm so glad that at least somebody had something nice to say about her temperament before she was born. And this reminds me that I should write a thank you note to my backup midwife for her encouragement, and to let her know she was exactly right. (Now I know what I'll do with the first note should I win!)
I was trying to think what to share when I remembered a time from long ago...that still makes me cry. Sorry to be so lengthy.
Several years ago, I moved from New England to the Midwest. It was a move filled with excited anticipation, but came to be a more difficult transition than expected. After two years, I had yet to truly connect with another woman to call "friend" (and I'm the friendly sort!). I was lonely beyond measure. I'm a school counselor and one rainy, depressing, lonely night I was headed to a dinner meeting with other counselors to hear a presenter talk about the importance of doing friendship groups with students (or so I thought). I spent the entire 30-min drive to the restaurant grumbling about "why am I even going...I've been doing friendship groups for years...I'm wasting my time going out in this miserable weather...yada-yada...
Of the thirty or so counselors there, I knew only one person whom I'd met briefly at a conference seven months before. I sat in the middle of a very long table with my back to the wall, trying to be inconspicuous. Well, just 45 seconds into the presentation, I realized she wasn't speaking about the importance of doing friendship groups, she was speaking about the importance of FRIENDS. Tears immediately poured from my eyes and continued to pour the entire 45 minutes of her talk. Have you ever tried to sob silently in a small room filled with people, hoping and praying no one would notice? I wanted to just become a part of the wall behind me. I had one flimsy little paper napkin and, I'll tell you what, there are only so many tears or flowing boogies that little thing could hold. If I wasn't body-locked into the middle of the table, I would have found my way to the nearest door and gone home.
When everyone stood to leave at the end of the presentation and I was ready for my quick exit, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and looked into the face of the woman I'd met at the conference months before. She looked me in the eyes and said with all sincerity, "I will be your friend." That's all she said, then she hugged me. I just cried and cried and cried. Then the presenter came over and hugged me, too, and I cried some more. I felt like the biggest baby ever (gosh, I was almost forty!), but it was the nicest and most compassionate thing to do and I desperately needed it.
The woman from the conference did become a good friend and later was the conduit for me getting the best job I've ever had (and still have). She has since moved away, but I will be eternally grateful for the hand of friendship she extended to me that night.
Jan
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