you bettah be nice to people

 my cousins had a grandmother (who is now in heaven) that had a run-in with a rude drive-thru server about some biscuits…she cautioned her “YOU BETTAH BE NICE TO PEOPLE” in the most precious southern drawl… undergirded with the indignation of a thoroughly southern woman.  We laughed about this for years, and often admonished each other “you bettah be nice to people!”

But lately… I have been thinking how very true this is. The world, friends, is very very small. with each app, website, social networking opportunity… it becomes more and more true, that you bettah be nice to people.

if you are not. people will know it. they will remember it. they will tweet about it. they have so many ways to let people know that you… are not nice to people.

everyday i encounter people that know people that i know… and people that know people that they know… our lives are so entwined in so many ways that we don’t even realize. i mean, how often have you added someone on facebook and noticed that you have mutual friends that you didn’t even know about? or gone to your linkedin page to find surprising shared connections? before social media we would play the “who do you know that i know” verbal game… and now, it’s like that but on steroids.

given that all of this is true… i’m just saying… (in my best grace spinks voice in my head) You Bettah Be Nice to People!

my uncle tommy (interestingly, the son of the aforementioned southern lady) used to repeat the adage “people wont remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel”. true, is it not?

So… let’s just love each other. OK?