Naughty or Nice
Before bestowing the bounty of toys on Christmas Eve, that's Santa's litmus test. Have you been naughty or nice? He really doesn't give a shit if you have deep, passionate feelings about certain things, attachments that you're willing to fight for, or an outrageously tight and innate sense of justice. He just wants to know if you've been naughty or nice.
When you think about it, it makes sense. He doesn't have time to check on all the little nuances that make each child a worthy and wonderful little person.
But Santa is for suckers. There's no way that one old, fat dude can get all that crap to all those kids. I'm just sayin'.
We, however, are not suckers. We are individuals who must deal with each other as other individuals. Naughty or nice. Or in the parlance of today's political realm, nasty or nice.
A friend recently wrote on her Facebook wall that someone accused her of being not nice. Later, she said the other person thought she was nasty. Is that all? Is that the litmus test for friends? Nasty or Nice.
Personally, I find both superficial and boring.
"Oh, she's real nice."
It makes my skin crawl to hear people describe others this way. (Partly because, obviously, I'm nasty and partly because "real" is not an adverb)
Nice.
Nice? What the hell does that even mean? She's giving and loving, or she always has a big smile and always agrees with me. I suspect it's more of the latter these days, but either way, when used as the primary descriptor, nice is a synonym for doormat to me.
As for nasty, I think that people don't like to be contradicted. About anything. Nasty is usually reserved for those who are not only opinionated, but also get a little heated when stating those opinions.
You can reject my connotation of nice, but I adamantly reject the connotation of nasty. Nasty should be reserved for people who try to rile up others but really have no concern about the matter at hand. For those who snipe, mumble rather than speak their differences. For those who are uninterested in discourse unless they are guaranteed to get the last word.
When you think about it, it makes sense. He doesn't have time to check on all the little nuances that make each child a worthy and wonderful little person.
But Santa is for suckers. There's no way that one old, fat dude can get all that crap to all those kids. I'm just sayin'.
We, however, are not suckers. We are individuals who must deal with each other as other individuals. Naughty or nice. Or in the parlance of today's political realm, nasty or nice.
A friend recently wrote on her Facebook wall that someone accused her of being not nice. Later, she said the other person thought she was nasty. Is that all? Is that the litmus test for friends? Nasty or Nice.
Personally, I find both superficial and boring.
"Oh, she's real nice."
It makes my skin crawl to hear people describe others this way. (Partly because, obviously, I'm nasty and partly because "real" is not an adverb)
Nice.
Nice? What the hell does that even mean? She's giving and loving, or she always has a big smile and always agrees with me. I suspect it's more of the latter these days, but either way, when used as the primary descriptor, nice is a synonym for doormat to me.
As for nasty, I think that people don't like to be contradicted. About anything. Nasty is usually reserved for those who are not only opinionated, but also get a little heated when stating those opinions.
You can reject my connotation of nice, but I adamantly reject the connotation of nasty. Nasty should be reserved for people who try to rile up others but really have no concern about the matter at hand. For those who snipe, mumble rather than speak their differences. For those who are uninterested in discourse unless they are guaranteed to get the last word.
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