Be Nice -- Always

Many years ago I was a day or two into my new job at a big corporation. My boss had a family emergency and had to go out of town for the rest of the week. I, of course, knew no one and was left to sink or swim on my own.

One afternoon, a woman showed up at my desk. She gave me this huge project to do. I had no idea how to do it, or who she was, but I’m always nice, so I accepted it and (surprisingly) tackled it. When my boss got back she shared with me an email from this person who had said how helpful I had been to her in completing this giant project that was under deadline. When my boss told me who sent it, I asked “Who’s that?” My boss stared at me bewildered. It turns out this mystery woman was my boss’s boss’s boss: the big department vice president.

I have always said that you should be nice to people because you never know who it might be you’re talking to. Now, I think that should be changed to “be nice to people because you never know when you’re being filmed and when your douchebag conduct will be broadcast on television.”