One of my favourite lines from the show MASH is when Frank Burns says: It’s nice to be nice to the nice.

The funny thing is that I saw that episode almost fifty years ago.

And yet the line remains in my memory. Popping up now and then, bringing a smile to my face.

The sentiment is true. It’s nice to be nice to people who are nice.

It’s harder to be nice to the not-so-nice.

But they might be the ones that need it most.

Treating people who are not-nice with kindness and respect is hard. But it might be the emotional oasis that they’ve been looking for.

It might sway them towards niceness.

It might make them nice.

Of course, they might be chronically mean people. Incapable of being nice.

But how do know which one is which?

It’s better to err on being nice to the not-nice. Just in case.

That way you can be nice to the not-nice because you’re nice.