What's Wrong With Being Nice?

Now it may be the copious cups of tea that I have consumed today or the soul-destroying train strike or even the horrendous cold/flu I'm currently battling with at the moment but I'm feeling pretty fed up.  Before I get to what it is that is causing this strife, let me explain that the catalyst that caused this blog post was binge-watching the last 5 episodes of The Apprentice or, to be more apt, Lord Sugar's attitude in these episodes.  Now, I love The Apprentice and I'm also well aware that it's reality TV so I know that the majority of it is scripted or, at the very least, heavily manipulated to create drama and storylines.  What I cannot stand (brace yourself, you're now about to find out what the cause of my strife is...) and what I realised I could not stand after the theme being repeated throughout the 5 episodes of The Apprentice is the attitude that being 'nice' is a bad thing.  Seriously, you could create a drinking game for how many times Lord Sugar uses the word 'nice' and practically scrunches his nose up in disgust at the mere thought.

What is so wrong with being 'nice' and also, since when did being 'too nice' become a negative thing?  Afterall, if I'm honest, I'd much rather work with or be friends with someone who is 'too nice' than someone who is 'too horrible'.  I find this whole anti-niceness mindset both confusing and really depressing - why should we assume that we must be mean and cut throat to succeed and why should those in influential positions be advocates of this?  It's ludicrous.  People too often consider 'niceness' as a weakness but the problem here is that the reason it's deemed a weakness is because the non-nice individuals (friends, colleagues or even strangers in the street) that exist out there choose to take advantage of this decent attribute seen in others and, guess what?  This doesn't make nice people weak, it just makes the advantage-takers lousy human beings.  I certainly don't want to be telling my future children that the only way they'll succeed in life is by being arrogant, nasty, cut-throat S.O.Bs but this seems to be the gist of what Lord Sugar imparts on the candidates and the viewing public in every goddamn episode and it's infuriating.

The other day, for example, someone mentioned to me that I was so nice that if I was in a horror film, I'd probably be the first one to get killed off - and I think that sums up exactly the mindset of people today.  Why does my being nice mean that nothing positive will come from it?  I'm not hugely religious but one of my favourite quotes comes from the Bible and this is 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you' (Luke 6:31) and I thoroughly believe that there is nothing wrong with thinking that way.  If anything, it's common sense that I would treat someone how I would want to be treated, it's not rocket science!

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect and I'm sure there are times when I'm not nice as we all have our moments, but I will never stop wanting to be nice because that's a fundamental part of who I am and that sure as hell does not mean that I won't succeed in either my personal or working life.  So, before I tell you that 'I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and we'd all eat and be happy'* and you yell back at me, 'She doesn't even go here!'*, all I ask is that we start viewing being 'nice' in a postive light and consider that maybe, just maybe, we can be both successful AND nice (*gasp*) because, if I'm honest, that'd be pretty ni.....great!

*If these two quotes mean nothing to you then I suggest you view the below video (skip to 1:02 for the good bit) pretty imminently or I may not be so nice in future**

**That was a lie, I'll still be nice because I'm awesome like that.  You're welcome.

The Nailbot - it will blow your mind

'Am I dreaming?  Is this real life?  What is this sorcery?' will be the interior monologue reverberating around your brains after reading this post because I just discovered something that will change all our lives forever.  'What could this be?' I overhear you whisper via your interior monologues (yes, I was eavesdropping), well, I give you, *drum roll, please*, the 'Nailbot' aka the Smartphone nail art printer.  Yes, that's right, a printing device that connects to your Smartphone and can print your photos/designs on to your nails.  Let me just give you a minute to process that information before I commence my next paragraph......have you processed yet?  Yes?  Great.

I stumbled upon this invention through my liking of HelloGiggles on Facebook where they had posted a video all about the Nailbot, showing how it worked and speaking to the genius creator, Pree Walia and which my Facebook kindly notified me about.  From the viewing of the video, I learnt that this invention prints custom nail art in 5 seconds which is faster than burning a piece of toast, just in case you needed some kind of time measuring example to put into context how fast this nail art printer actually is.  If you need proof that the Nailbot acutally exists and works faster than burning a piece of toast then I thoroughly recommend that you check out the video below.

Just imagine how great the Nailbot would be for a friend's wedding where the bridemaids could all print photos of the happy (hopefully) couple on their nails or for a friend's birthday where your gift to them could be decorating your nails with photos of their beautiful face!  Or, if you're just in a bit of a mood funk then what better way to cheer yourself up than by printing the poop emoji on all of your nails?  Mature?  No.  Hilarious?  Most definitely.  The options are endless and the best thing is that you don't have to be a skilled nail art technician to be rocking some skilled nail art designs.  This is the kind of invention that I have dreamt about without even really knowing it and, if I'm honest, my brain can barely believe that it's real and not just a figment of my imagination.

It's hardly surpising that the Nailbot has now raised way over its $75,000 goal on Kickstarter with $87,110 and it still has 40 hours left to go due to its innovation and easy-to-use style.  Sidenote, if you wanted be one of the first to get your sassy paws on a Nailbot then there is still time to pledge - I myself would love to pledge but, unfortunately, I still have 12 more days until payday and apparently paying your rent is more important than nail art (I don't know who came up with this rule but it is not one that I am a fan of) so I will have to be one of those poor suckers who waits for it to hit the shelves and buy it then (which I'm totally fine with and not bitter about at all).

I can't wait to spend hours on YouTube watching all the nail art tutorials that will come out of the Nailbot's presence and I think that we can all agree that this will most detinitely kick the chrome nail art trend's ass.

If you're feeling intrigued then check out the Nailbot's kickstarter page here where there is even more info and fun photos and videos showing exactly how the Nailbot works.

P.s. You are welcome*.

*because in my interior monologue you are all showering me with a million thank yous.  You're too kind, really.