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Sure, "nice" needs some definition.

But that's your call. I'm asking you if you are a nice person.

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[-] leaky_shower_thought@feddit.nl 4 points 5 months ago

no. but i try to forgive myself for not taking the opportunity. imo, it is a skill that forms through a lot of interactions. a form of rizz. and to me, it doesn't come as natural.

[-] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 4 points 5 months ago

I don't think I am, I often regret things I say or do. Even little things.

[-] Emperor@feddit.uk 4 points 5 months ago

I am very laid back (my Dad always said I was nearly horizontal) and I never get angry, I rarely even get flustered or impatient. My Dad was a very good man and I try to follow his example as much as possible. As his health declined and I started caring for him (a real privilege as he helped so many it was only just that he got help in return when he needed it, even if it couldn't possibly fully pay him back) and, as I picked up some of his slack I did wonder where he found the time or energy. Since he died, I have felt like a sheepdog without a flock and have found myself adopting various people - I helped a friend through her cancer journey and her son start university, I took another friend to hospital sufficiently often that she just told the staff I was her "hospital husband" (which did stop them asking questions, usually with a roll of the eyes) and, as I don't drink, I ferry people home from the pub.

However, I can be... thoughtless and this can be really annoying, especially to the easily angered - I've lost a friend over it and my brother isn't exactly my greatest fan (the other year, my niece asked if I wanted to know all the nasty things my brother said about me and I declined - if we knew what people thought about us, we'd tear each other apart). I can also be rude to people but just where it's funny, you just have to know your audience (it can appal any bystanders though). I'm also not very emotionally expressive and I suspect at least one friend thinks I'm a sociopath.

So am I nice? Although it might depend on who you ask, I'd say no. However, I try to do as much good as possible - if anyone needs help, I'll drop what I'm doing and pitch in.

[-] feoh@lemmy.ml 4 points 5 months ago

I don't love this question.

I spent a huge chunk of my life putting so much focus into being "nice" that some friends sremovedd about me being "a doormat".

Also? The word "nice" has so many soft negative connotations in 2024.

Subtext: if you're "nice" you're fundamentally un-interesting Subtext: if you're "nice" you're a push over and ripe to be taken advantage of.

GOOD person? MORAL person? OK.

Nice? Asking anyone to attribute this to themselves is a foot gun.

[-] Corno@lemm.ee 4 points 5 months ago

I get told I'm one of the nicest and most polite people they've met, so I think there is something to it... I try my best to be friendly and helpful to people, and treat people how I want to be treated! 🤗

[-] MagicShel@programming.dev 4 points 5 months ago

My emotions and instincts can be assholes, but I choose to be a good person. So the answer really depends on how much you weigh my instantaneous reaction to an emotional situation vs after my rational brain kicks in and I remember that everything that angers or disappoints me wasn't done for the sole purpose of ruining my day. Oh and little stuff pisses me off way more than big stuff.

I wish I was a better person, but I think I'm alright most of the time.

[-] Funkytom467@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

I'm exactly like that too. I think my nature isn't nice, but i can choose to be.

And i'm also admiring anyone that as that nice nature, i find it beautiful and extremely attractive. So to a degree i have that goal of trying to choose it whenever i can.

One drawback, wich also coincide with my very rational personality is that i hate having too strong of an emotion, had anger issues as a kid, but also the start of love is somewhat unpleasant for example.

But hey, to me as long as your trying to be better, your are good person.

[-] Fizz@lemmy.nz 3 points 5 months ago

In person to people i dont know or dont hate I'm nice in my intent and my actions but I am sometimes mean in communication unintentionally and intentionally.

On the internet it's different. Because on the internet I am often interacting with people I will never meet or never properly form a relationship with nor will they impact my relationships with other people I tend to assign less value to being nice. I don't go out of my way to be nasty but I'll be disrespectful and condescending if the conversation goes there. But I real life I would take a kill em with kindness strategy instead of rolling in the mud.

[-] BambiDiego@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

I don't care about being "nice," I try very hard to be good and sometimes that comes off as "nice," but generally being good improves my life, the life of my loved ones, the life of my community, and sometimes even the world, if only very little.

Evil people can be nice too, is the problem.

[-] shinigamiookamiryuu@lemm.ee 3 points 5 months ago

I try to be, but I don't rule out there may be aspects of the definition that go over my head. For example, there was a time when I was more known for giving to those in need than I'm known for now, but there were critics of mine who saw this and would accuse me of "buying over my friends with gifts". These same people often ask if I see people as pawns because I exchange favors with them, ask if I "think flattery is okay" during the times when I was more known for complimenting others, and criticize me over a combination things I've long made up for, things that normally wouldn't be seen as problematic, and unproven things. I guess I have a lot of everyday pharisees in life who make me think of this question a lot and that this is fresh in my mind. I don't stop people from wanting to explain how I'm not nice though, I just want to understand (within reason, I am my own human).

[-] oo1@lemmings.world 3 points 5 months ago
[-] Etterra@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

Variably. I am not, however, necessarily a good person either. It depends on the context.

[-] Scary_le_Poo@beehaw.org 3 points 5 months ago

Irl, yes. Extremely so. I tend to be prickly online because, frankly, anonymous communication generally causes people to be assholes.

That said, I'm only a dick when someone else is being a dick first.

https://www.flamewarriorsguide.com

[-] multifariace@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

My students always say I am. They seem so confused when they find out their actions still have consequences in my classroom.

[-] jbk@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 5 months ago

not always :(

[-] newtraditionalists@beehaw.org 3 points 5 months ago

I can be, but am not always. I actually find niceness to be a highly overvalued character trait. Some of the most back stabbing, manipulative, wishy washy, fake people I have ever known were incredibly nice. In fact, they used their niceness as a shield and mask for their awful character traits. Took a long time to realize that niceness is not so important. Far more important are loyalty, reliability, willingness to admit fault, willingness to listen, and so on. Niceness is just basic human civility. I don't care how nice you are if you are a manipulative and fake.

[-] Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

Nope. I actually never want to be described as nice.

Fair, though? Yes, I would like to think that I am fair.

[-] JareeZy@feddit.de 3 points 5 months ago

No. I know people who are genuinely nice, and I don't compare to that. I am, for the most part, trying to be a very relaxed person though, and my benign apathy has sometimes been described as "nice".

[-] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Kind. I try to be a kind person. Sometimes I fail. Too many people argue the being "nice" is merely a superficial term.

[-] half_built_pyramids@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

I used to be nice, then a guy in a bucket hat stood in front of me at a concert.

[-] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 2 points 5 months ago

No. I can be kind but I am not nice.

[-] keepcarrot@hexbear.net 2 points 5 months ago

Sometimes. I have a hard time when to prioritise my own needs against other people's, so I wind up vacillating between very meek and belligerent kinda randomly. Especially when it comes to social needs (e.g. if it feels like someone else is dominating a conversation with their topic of interest, and I have something I wanted to say about something 3 minutes ago but the person hasn't stopped talking, idk what do).

[-] emberpunk@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 months ago

I think I'm nice. I care, look out for others, and try to be considerate.

[-] Gruntyfish@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

I like to think so. I put a lot of effort into trying to be someone I would want to be friends with, and there are times I slip up of course, but generally I think of myself as someone who is nice.

[-] SeekPie@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago

I try to be the best person I can be.

[-] Resol@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

I have some very serious mood swings. Generally, I'm pretty nice. But if I'm in a bad mood, I turn into a very rude person.

Wow, I really need therapy, don't I?

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[-] RBWells@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Other people seem to think so, but I am not any nicer on the outside than on the inside, not unfailingly polite and certainly get defensive sometimes.

So I am going to say yes because what's on the outside is what I feel in the inside, and people think I am nice.

[-] LoamImprovement@beehaw.org 2 points 5 months ago

I do nice things for other people when I'm up to it, but I hesitate to call myself a 'nice person' because niceness isn't necessarily an intrinsic quality, in the same way that I can be a transient dumbass at times without thinking of myself as an idiot.

[-] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 months ago

Nope. I'm thinking of taking acting classes or something because I try to be nice and it doesn't come across that way at all.

[-] Coskii@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 5 months ago

Nah I'm not nice though I am considerate. I'm not socially... apt.. but I know how to act.

[-] eugenia@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 months ago

Depends what you mean by "nice". Nice as in "genuinely good" person, or nice as a "nice behavior towards others"? There's a difference, because in the latter one, it can involve not being honest, just so you can appear "nice". So I'm not "nicely socially behaving" most of the time, I'm instead hammering with facts (without being aggressive). My underlying reason for being like that is because: 1. I'm not diplomatic at all, I wasn't born with that gene it seems, 2. I don't believe I help the situation if I just be nice for the sake of being nice. I feel more useful when I'm straight up, clear as water, without being combative or aggressive. If that makes me not nice because I'm not sugarcoating with socially expected bullshit, then I'm not nice. If that makes me nice because I try to help and my intent is pure, then sure, I'm nice.

[-] MargotRobbie@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago

I'd like to think so, most of the time.

But one of the important lesson I learned is that you can't be too nice at work, you have to put your foot down sometimes, otherwise people would just walk all over you and nothing gets done.

I don't like it, but it is what it is.

[-] KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Yes, I try to be. I can't be an asshole, I feel really bad about it. I have had to be the cruel person and the liar a handful of times, and I hate to do it. But it is what it is. I look at someone like Elon Musk as the embodiment of a "terrible person" and do the opposite of him.

I am definitely not a narcissist, I am definitely not self-centered, and I am definitely not cruel.

[-] Asudox@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Yes. I am. At least nice to people who are also nice to me.

[-] 5in1k@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago

only on tuesday

[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 months ago
[-] super_mario_69@hexbear.net 2 points 5 months ago

Yes. I have a personality disorder that makes me want everyone to like me so I’m always nice (sometimes to the point of being flirtatious) to strangers and people that haven’t offended me greatly. Obviously it doesn’t work on everyone.

[-] ulkesh@beehaw.org 1 points 5 months ago

Not really. I used to be. But being nice has screwed me so much in my life because of being taken advantage of and not being respected that I have no interest in being nice to others anymore, at least by default. I am polite when meeting a new person, but I am skeptical of them until they prove they are worth me being truly nice to them. All I ask of people is some level of reciprocation when they're able to reciprocate (even a "thank you" is usually enough for me) -- but that very rarely happens.

[-] ssm@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 5 months ago

Definitely not

[-] Ptsf@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

I'd say I'm optimistic, hopeful, and we'll intentioned but it's been many a year since I've felt "nice". Something shifted in society during the Covid era and I just feel awful going out of my way for most people these days. Very much in the "every person for themselves" category.

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this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2024
96 points (93.6% liked)

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