Start Making Choices: How to Be Nice


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How to Be Nice
Nineteen almost effortless ways you can do a little good in the world.
Show Friends and Family You Care
  • If you know someone is going out to dinner to celebrate a special occasion, call the restaurant in advance and say you'll pick up the cost of her wine or dessert.
  • When someone is moving to a new city, supply friends and family with stamped, preaddressed postcards. (Hand them out at the going-away party.) By the time the family pulls into the new driveway, there will be warm wishes awaiting them.
  • If you travel a lot on business, record yourself reading your children's favorite bedtime stories. Finish each night's reading with a countdown of the days until you're back home with them.
  • Every day for a year, jot down one thing you love about your child/husband/friend (he has a crooked smile; she snorts when she laughs). At the end of the year, give the person your one-of-a-kind, 365-item list.
  • When stocking up on school supplies, pick up a few extras and give them to your child's teacher to pass on to students whose families might not be able to afford them.
  • When a guest brings a bottle of wine to a party, jot her name on the label. Down the road, when you pop the cork, ring your friend to let her know you're having a drink in her honor.
Be Kind to Your Neighbors
  • Make a list of local shops, restaurants, hair salons, and other services for new neighbors.
  • Take a few dozen fresh-baked cookies to your local fire or police station. Bring the kids along to say thank you for their service.
  • Shovel the snow from your neighbor's driveway after you've tackled your own.
  • When a neighbor is grieving, leave a basket on her front porch, filled with blank thank-you cards she can send to people who have brought flowers or made donations.
Appreciate People for the Work They Do
  • If someone goes beyond her job description to help you, call or send an e-mail to her supervisor praising her.
  • Bring in a box of doughnuts for your building's maintenance staff.
  • Overtip your breakfast waiter. He probably put forth just as much effort as someone on the evening shift would, but his take-home pay is probably lower.
Be Good to Strangers and the World Around You
  • Pay for the drive-through order of the car behind you.
  • Leave your extra change in the soda machine for someone else to find.
  • Pop a few quarters in a parking meter that's about to expire.
  • Trade your low ticket number at the deli counter for that of someone who seems to be in a hurry (or is shopping with children).
  • If you use public transportation, offer a fellow passenger your newspaper rather than tossing it in the trash.
  • Donate two tickets to a major sporting event to an organization like Big Brothers Big Sisters. That way, a Big Sis can take her Little Sis to something that she otherwise might not be able to afford.

Copyright 2012 Time Inc. REAL SIMPLE is a registered trademark of Time Inc. Used with permission.







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