#FOWC — Play Nice

Fandango

C97FFC8F-5600-4EE5-9326-B8E6C12B6E80I used to hate it when my mother would advise me to “play nice” with someone. To me, what she really wanted me to do was to do whatever the other kid wanted to do, regardless of what I wanted. She was instructing me to behave in a kind, friendly, or polite way towards someone. Even towards my obnoxious cousin Arthur. I hated that guy.

It’s not that I’m a mean, nasty, difficult, or angry person. It’s just that I don’t think it’s always — or even often — necessary to placate to others.

When you placate to someone, what you’re doing is trying to pacify them. You’re appeasing, mollifying, or easing their anger. But that assumes that their anger or annoyance is justified…and perhaps yours is not.

So I guess the bottom line is that I’m not a placating kind of a guy, although I have been known to play nice occasionally.

Written for today’s One-Word Challenge. The word is “placate.”

11 thoughts on “#FOWC — Play Nice”

  1. cagedunn June 8, 2018 / 6:35 pm

    I think it’s very unnatural to ‘play nice’ – we are shown that we have to protect our own … it’s demonstrated every day.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Marilyn Armstrong June 8, 2018 / 8:09 pm

    We told Owen he had to share his stuff. I found him threatening another child saying: “SHARE it to me.” It got shared.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. bobcb1896 June 8, 2018 / 9:12 pm

    Seriously, why are some of us always on the short end of the stick in the “play nice” scenario.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • Fandango June 8, 2018 / 10:16 pm

      As the old adage says, “nice guys finish last.” That said, I do consider myself to be a nice guy, but I don’t let others walk all over me or persuade me to do things I don’t really want to do just to placate them and “play nice.”

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  4. Sight11 June 9, 2018 / 10:55 am

    I played with my sibling when I was a child. Luckily where I lived ours was the only house with no one living around. So no one told me to play nice.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment