I may not remember what I ate for lunch yesterday, but I remember everyone who was ever nice to me when I first started working and I remember better the ones who didn’t. I worked with a lot of people over the years and I just never wanted to be remembered as the backstabber, the yeller, or the insulter.
Even when dealing with impossible bosses, ineffective co-workers, or clueless fellow plan providers, I always made a choice that I wanted to be kind. I never wanted to come off as the workroom bully because life is short and life is tough and there is no sense in. hurting others. I have a friend of mine who I know back from the day when I was a law clerk for a law firm in Boston when I was getting my LLM while he was a first-year associate. When we talk, we will mention certain partners at the firm who may or may not still be there and I will mention the partners who were absolutely cruel. Everybody can have a bad day here or there, but I’m talking about people who were just cruel, all the time. It’s 22 years later and I’ve gotten over all of the nonsense, but I don’t forget.
You have a choice, be nice, or be cruel. It’s easier to be nice and it’s better for everyone to be nice.
