Are you naturally nice or nasty?

[6packofun]

Hmm, I think most people fall somewhere between naturally nice and *mean* (or even sarcastic...that's not a personality trait, it's a habit and a choice). Once again, I choose other. lol

 

(And, theologically speaking, which I know the OP is probably not, I don't believe people are naturally all that good or nice anyhow. It's a struggle against the flesh to some degree for everyone, IMO. People's personalities and motivations are so varied. I think a person can be "nice"--or what the world sees as nice, usually meaning "interested in and cooperative with and supportive of me, me, me!"--and still have quite selfish motivations. Is it good to be nice when deep down one mainly just wants to be thought well of by others or is terrified of conflict? And yet it can be honorable to be nice by an act of the will, by *force*, so that it's a great example to our children and an example of Christ in this world even though our nature might think something not-so-charitable at first. Human nature is so complex. :tongue_smilie: )

[LibraryLover]

I grew up with little white lights on the tree, and white lights in the windows of our (my parents') Cape Cod- styled home. My mother is very low key.

 

My grandfather (maternal) loved lights. He had one of those silver trees with the multicolor rotating 'fan' on it when I was a toddler. ;) I LOVED it. lol It was so much fun!

 

When I decorate my own home, it is in the way my mother did; little white lights, real tree, wreaths made with our own poinsettia plants, pinecones etc. However, I never stopped liking the over-the-top I saw my grandfather enjoy. When I see Christmas Bling I think, 'Those people enjoy crazy decorations. I wouldn't do it that way, but I am happy they are having fun with it."

 

A few years ago, my youngest dd took all of my MIL's gold, red, green, plastic (probably with lead) tinsel, and her plastic Santa, and incorporated into my Waldorf fantasy. I wasn't thrilled, but I saw how much she enjoyed using the items from her p-grandmother (who has passed away).

 

So...basically, I enjoy it because it makes them happy.

I think a lot of kids enjoy those crazy blow-ups, and my only thought about them is that I wish they were made in the US, and without toxins.

Edited October 24, 2012 by LibraryLover

[Denisemomof4]

In our neighborhood is a house that always has horrible, tacky inflated decorations occupying the entire front yard. They really are an eye sore. As I was driving past this morning I thought, "I would love to sneak over at night and rip them to shreds." Truthfully, if I wasn't a Christian I probably would because I think I'm naturally inconsiderate and cold-hearted. Maybe it's the way I was raised or just human nature. I asked a friend and she said that when she drives by she just thinks that if they want to announce to their world their poor taste, they can. She's a much nicer person than I am; being nice seems to be second nature for her.

 

Ok, I responded earlier but didn't read beyond your first post.

 

This made me totally crack up!!!! I immediately thought of a yard where I would also love to do this with their tacky Christmas decorations already up, some from last yearG!!!:lol::lol:

[Denisemomof4]

Um whoa...I'm pretty pessimistic, but honestly I have never had a thought like that. I might think it looked silly, but I would not for one second have a thought to rip anything to shreds.

 

I seriously doubt she would do it even if she thought she could get away with it. I have a feeling she is like me, perhaps has a warped sense of humor and fantasized about doing so. With a chuckle.

 

I seriousky dream of going to the neighbor's yard after midnight to dig up all her flowers in her lovely yard. The flowere she dug out of mine when I was on vacation. :angry: there was a witness. Thing is, I'd go down there to get my flowers back, I'd get caught, then I'd be the one ending up arrested. For taking back my flowers she stole. :cursing:

[Denisemomof4]

Interesting you are 43. I am 45 and I am wondering if it has anything to do with it, because I wasn't bitter in my 30's, it's kind of a 40's thing for me. I'm hoping I mellow as I get even older.

 

But I'm still nice :)

 

In my 40's.

[Meriwether]

In our neighborhood is a house that always has horrible, tacky inflated decorations occupying the entire front yard. They really are an eye sore. As I was driving past this morning I thought, "I would love to sneak over at night and rip them to shreds." Truthfully, if I wasn't a Christian I probably would because I think I'm naturally inconsiderate and cold-hearted. Maybe it's the way I was raised or just human nature. I asked a friend and she said that when she drives by she just thinks that if they want to announce to their world their poor taste, they can. She's a much nicer person than I am; being nice seems to be second nature for her.

 

Oh my goodness.:lol::lol::lol: I'm dying here. Before I opened the thread, your title made me think of a conversation I had with my mother. At my first home a neighbor always had huge blowup things in his yard. He must have gotten a holiday package because he had them up year round. I told my mom one time that if I wasn't a nice person, I'd go pop one. She said, "Daughter, if you were a nice person, you wouldn't even consider it." Put me in my place.:lol: I was going to answer "I'm a nice person" in your poll, but given your example, I'd better not.:lol:

 

ETA because some folks are taking this waaay seriously: I would never actually damage someone else's property. The blowups were a joke between my mom and me because there was a different one up each month when she would come.

Edited October 24, 2012 by Meriwether

[Denisemomof4]

My belief system is "what goes around comes around".

 

I will be SO happy if that turns out to be true!

[justLisa]

Ok, I responded earlier but didn't read beyond your first post.

 

This made me totally crack up!!!! I immediately thought of a yard where I would also love to do this with their tacky Christmas decorations already up, some from last yearG!!!:lol::lol:

 

So you're my neighbor? They have this string of Christmas lights above their door. They weed wack their grass with a weed eater thing not a mower, they have 4 chairs on their porch and a 200 year old exercise bike :confused:

 

We make up stories about what they are doing in there :tongue_smilie: :lol:

[Denisemomof4]

Oh my goodness.:lol::lol::lol: I'm dying here. Before I opened the thread, your title made me think of a conversation I had with my mother. At my first home a neighbor always had huge blowup things in his yard. He must have gotten a holiday package because he had the up year round. I told my mom one time that if I wasn't a nice person, I'd go pop one. She said, "Daughter, if you were a nice person, you wouldn't even consider it." Put me in my place.:lol: I was going to answer "I'm a nice person" in your poll, but given your example, I'd better not.:lol:

 

I have fantasized about punching those huge blow up ornaments just to watch the air come out.

 

Once I nearly peed my pants when I drove past a house with several of them in their yard. They were being battered around by violent winds, some were completely deflated. It just cracked me up.

[Denisemomof4]

So you're my neighbor? They have this string of Christmas lights above their door. They weed wack their grass with a weed eater thing not a mower, they have 4 chairs on their porch and a 200 year old exercise bike :confused:

 

We make up stories about what they are doing in there :tongue_smilie: :lol:

 

:lol::lol::lol:

 

I have a stuffed giraffe in my room. It is SO cute. It is not named Waffles.:lol::lol:

[justLisa]

:lol::lol::lol:

 

I have a stuffed giraffe in my room. It is SO cute. It is not named Waffles.:lol::lol:

 

 

I really want a pet giraffe :crying:

 

Maybe a llama. You can have those as pets. It's the closest thing I can think of

[Denisemomof4]

I really want a pet giraffe :crying:

 

Maybe a llama. You can have those as pets. It's the closest thing I can think of

 

:lol::lol::lol: watching Autumn last night made me want a baby giraffe in the WORST way!!! So many were talking about how watching the baby made them want another, or hod another, etc. And I kept saying to myself, "I want a pet giraffe!!!". This is how pathetic I am. I looked at the ceiling height in my barn today and confirmed that it could never house an adult giraffe.:lol::lol: like I could ever get one.

 

I DO have four llamas! They are named Larry, Curly, Moe and Shemp.: :D I have had them for 10 years now and two of them were delivered in a mini van! :lol: i always wanted to take one for a ride and record people's reactions.

[annandatje]

In our neighborhood is a house that always has horrible, tacky inflated decorations occupying the entire front yard. They really are an eye sore. As I was driving past this morning I thought, "I would love to sneak over at night and rip them to shreds." Truthfully, if I wasn't a Christian I probably would because I think I'm naturally inconsiderate and cold-hearted. ...

 

I hope you never lose your Christian faith if it is all that is standing between you and decimating tacky decor. :001_smile: I was beginning to wonder if you were the mysterious neighbor who butchered my flashing red nosed Rudolph last year.

[love2read]

It's interesting to see how much the nice people read into some comments and how they try to put others in their place in a seemingly polite way. I'm thinking a little more objectivity and self-introspection is needed on their part before answering questions about degrees of niceness.

[WishboneDawn]

It's interesting to see how much the nice people read into some comments and how they try to put others in their place in a seemingly polite way. I'm thinking a little more objectivity and self-introspection is needed on their part before answering questions about degrees of niceness.

 

:lol:

 

Indeed. The implications of those polite comments are not very nice at all.

 

ETA: I love tacky Xmas decorations. The ones I hate are the "tasteful" and, to me, rather lifeless white light displays. I've also had dead cars in my yard for far too long. The last one left last spring after two years of sitting idle. The neighbour up the road is a car fiend and has a dozen cars in different states of decay in his yard. When I drove into his yard the other day I had an urge to crawl inside some of them - leftover from a childhood where dead cars made EXCELLENT toys. :D

 

I don't think though, that nay meaningful judgement can be made about the person who has white Xmas lights or car carcasses just from those two facts. Doesn't stop me from wanting to tear down the white lights though. :)

Edited October 24, 2012 by WishboneDawn

[LMV]

My husband thinks I'm incredibly kind. His mother agrees, of course she is perhaps the most understanding MIL on the planet so who knows? In general I tend to live with (and hopefully instill in my children) a few simple tenets none of which are original I admit and all of which I suppose I realized fit my perspectives more than guiding them:

 

-Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. [Plato? this has been much debated]

-They will know we are Christians by our love. [Lines of one of my favorite hymns. I think we do God's work the best when we do it in unassuming and uncelebrated ways.]

-Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway. [Mother Theresa]

 

On the decorations topic, I admit I'm an elegant and simply tasteful kind of girl. I do often look at some of the stuff on display in our neighborhood and think yikes! But then I move on and accept that we all have our own style and I can embrace the greater concept of individual styles even if I'd never put blinking purple and orange lights up all over our house for halloween.

 

 

What kind of decorations?

 

Since I can't find a pet giraffe, I was thinking of just buying an inflatable one so I can pretend. His name is going to be Henry and his friend's name is Waffles. DO NOT TOUCH HIM.

 

or else.

 

There was a house in our neighborhood last Christmas season that had a large inflatable reindeer that was bigger than the house on their front lawn. Perhaps he has a giraffe friend…..

[justLisa]

 

 

 

There was a house in our neighborhood last Christmas season that had a large inflatable reindeer that was bigger than the house on their front lawn. Perhaps he has a giraffe friend…..

 

I have a giant snowman of LED lights, and a giant inflatable Santa in a helicopter. An I staple one million lights all over the house. Actually DS and DH do. We are Christmas freaks

 

I am GOING to find a giraffe

[WishboneDawn]

In our neighborhood is a house that always has horrible, tacky inflated decorations occupying the entire front yard. They really are an eye sore. As I was driving past this morning I thought, "I would love to sneak over at night and rip them to shreds." Truthfully, if I wasn't a Christian I probably would because I think I'm naturally inconsiderate and cold-hearted. Maybe it's the way I was raised or just human nature. I asked a friend and she said that when she drives by she just thinks that if they want to announce to their world their poor taste, they can. She's a much nicer person than I am; being nice seems to be second nature for her.

 

I've been thinking about this and I think the premise is a bit flawed. I don't think that stray thoughts indicate anything deeper about your core personality or how essentially nice you are. I think many very nice people have lots of thoughts like that. What makes them nice is that they recognize they're not nice and they don't act on them.

 

Seriously, lots of people do "nice" things and consider themselves "nice" people even while they're doing bad things because they just never learned, like you obviously have, that certain things are bad. One of those people might well go ahead and tear down the neighbours decorations because they thought that was a wonderful things to do for the wider community.

 

And I think it's more then just your belief system standing in your way. I think it's likely social conditioning from the wider community as well, core family values, personality traits, the ability to see consequences.

 

We all have our dark bits. That some of us recognize that and admit that doesn't mean we get kicked out of the nice people club. It just means we're a little more interesting at times. ;)

 

:p to your opinion on Xmas decorations though. I LOVE the tacky stuff. :D

[LMV]

I have a giant snowman of LED lights, and a giant inflatable Santa in a helicopter. An I staple one million lights all over the house. Actually DS and DH do. We are Christmas freaks

 

I am GOING to find a giraffe

 

I think they had a Santa out there for a day or two also but he was like one tenth the size of his reindeer so I guess they must have decided he looked silly and took him down.

[jujsky]

I was naturally nice, but as I get older and encounter more idiots and rude people in society, I find that I'm becoming more mean-spirited and grouchy.

[LibraryLover]

I have a giant snowman of LED lights, and a giant inflatable Santa in a helicopter. An I staple one million lights all over the house. Actually DS and DH do. We are Christmas freaks

 

I am GOING to find a giraffe

 

 

:lol: This thread is reminding me of the TV program, Roseanne, and the stuffy next door neighbor who would frequently scold them about their tacky Halloween and Christmas decorations. After snooty commentary by her about their Christmas decorations, the Connors add more, and the house pretty much glows. lol

 

ETA: It was actually a notice from the neighbors asking folks to restrict their decorating to tasteful white lights etc. I found the episode on YouTube. It's called White Trash Christmas.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8amP9ldeuk

Edited October 24, 2012 by LibraryLover

[extendedforecast]

I am very nice, but I do tend to be very cynical, and my sense of humor leans toward sarcasm. I used to joke that late one night I was going to sneak over and take the flamingos from my neighbor's yard and put them in my other neighbor's trash. This second neighbor always has interesting stuff in his trash, like every week, so we often joke about that as well. I would never actually follow through with it. I think that joking about whatever is bothering me helps me cope. I also love to help others, and I firmly believe in treating others as I wish to be treated. I have some children who are naturally nice and others who are much more negative.

[*Lulu*]

I am naturally nice, but you might not think that depending on the setting you met me in.

 

I am a moderate introvert, detester of even mid sized social functions, lover of sarcasm, and deflector of all things intimate through humor that is often bordering on dark.

 

I come across as aloof, (on a good day), when in an uncomfortable social setting. I come off as hostile or dismissive when people intrude upon my choices because my preferences are different from their's. I love people while recognizing that a percentage of the population sucks. I have lived long enough to have experienced the phenomenon that causes the suck-age percentage to increase exponentially the larger the self-associating group of people becomes.

[justamouse]

I love tacky Christmas/holiday decorations.

 

I love lawn gnomes.

 

I love witch balls.

 

:D

 

If I lived next to Lisa, I would be looking for the giraffe with her. :D

[Murphy101]

This thread makes me desperately want to flock some of you.

Or at least myself.

I have no idea if that makes me naturally nice or not.

Ecomony of finance and time prevent me acting on my inclination.

I'm not aware of anything biblically preventing or endorsing a good natured tacky flocking.

[Bear23]

In our neighborhood is a house that always has horrible, tacky inflated decorations occupying the entire front yard. They really are an eye sore. As I was driving past this morning I thought, "I would love to sneak over at night and rip them to shreds." Truthfully, if I wasn't a Christian I probably would because I think I'm naturally inconsiderate and cold-hearted. Maybe it's the way I was raised or just human nature. I asked a friend and she said that when she drives by she just thinks that if they want to announce to their world their poor taste, they can. She's a much nicer person than I am; being nice seems to be second nature for her.

 

I have felt simliar to what you have described.

[goldberry]

Interesting question. I consider myself responsible, honest, reliable...but I guess not naturally nice.

 

I am extremely judgmental and critical of small things naturally. My belief system, a good husband, and a few years of experience have led me to improve dramatically! Ah, how life can take you down a few notches!

[Jeannie in NJ]

we got one of those wire reindeer with the white lights a few years ago and replaced the lights with flashing color lights. We also kinda just throw the lights onto the trees rather than spending hours stringing them just right and we wonder why we have never won Best Holiday Display lol

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I voted "other" because I have been known to voice discontent with the neighbor's blow up decorations. At present there are 5 blow up motorcycles with a variety of ghosts and skeletons riding on them standing in their front yard. It looks like a reunion of Hell's Angels from beyond.

 

The thing that makes it interesting is that the yard is the size of a postage stamp so the blow up motorcycles fill the entire yard.

[Susan in TN]

It's in my nature to want to be nice and help others feel comfortable, but when I'm tired and cranky, irritated, overwhelmed, hungry, and/or frustrated, I may not be terribly nice. I'm a very bad actor and while I can refrain from saying something ugly, I have a hard time faking happy. My "fake happy smile" is rather frightening, I've been told :D. I've been known to scowl at the cashier at Chik-fil-a and my neighbor who just can't stop whining at me.

[Reflections]

What kind of decorations?

 

Since I can't find a pet giraffe, I was thinking of just buying an inflatable one so I can pretend. His name is going to be Henry and his friend's name is Waffles. DO NOT TOUCH HIM.

 

or else.

 

 

I won't touch BUT I want pictures!!!!