It was the year 1984, Unadulterated Arrogance was then a tiny toddler of just 6 years of age. It also happened to be the first day of school. Before the end of the day I remember being pulled up by the teacher and being told to be be nice to another kid; to which I innocently replied,” why should I for he is not my friend?” Two decades later and hitherto I am yet to find a cogent answer to my question.

I am a person who is either your best friend or your worst enemy. Why is it that our society is based around a facade of lies, why do people act nice in front of each other and then squall behind their backs? Why go through all the trouble of putting up a facade, if you don’t like someone, if you are not close to someone then be out with it in the open.

I concede, what I am advocating does not hold water in the professional sphere of life. A consummate professional is one who can put up a welcoming face even to the most unruly of clients. To succeed professionally one has to be nice to one and sundry. I for one am one of the ‘nicest humans’ you will encounter in the professional walks of life. God knows how much of an effort I put into it. But your personal life is a different ball game altogether, why be nice to those people who you don’t like or care about. I for one certainly don’t and the only adverse affect of the same has been that I am labelled arrogant. But then again even if I were to be labelled nice by one and all; what would I do with their certificate of being nice? It has no monetary value, it has no sentimental value, then what does one get from taking the effort of being nice to people you don’t care about?

With acquaintances it should be just a ‘you scratch my back, I scratch your back’ policy. With close friends or people you care about, one should take the extra effort. I am very close to my friends and family. I take that extra effort of being nice that would otherwise be wasted on someone you don’t like or care about. The net result is that you tend to have everlasting relationships with 10% of the people you meet in life and the other 90% will be gunning for your life. But when alls said and done, its those people in the 10% bracket whose love and affection mean something, so I feel justified in my stance.

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