The way I want to come off to people is… not a jerk. Its simple to me: no matter what the circumstance or situation, be nice, be friendly. There’s a lot of mean people out there, even at Baruch. But don’t let them get in the way, man. I guess, in my honest opinion, the point of life is to make money, be happy with your woman or man, raise your kids well, and don’t be an a-hole. But if you think about it, that last part is the most important part! It ties into everything, it makes it all possible. It makes life easy. It makes people around you happy, but come on, who really cares about them? More importantly, it lets you be happy. Don’t be a jerk and others won’t be a jerk to you. Easy! This is how I see it. To make money, get a job. To get a job, be smart, be organized, be… whatever you have to be. But foremost, don’t be an ass. Especially to the guys who are going to pay you. And unless you want to be miserable and lonely at the office every single day, be nice to the guys you work with, too. Make them laugh, bring them coffee, buy them a drink at the pub after work. Pretty soon, word will begin to spread. “Hey, you know that new guy Phil? Yeah, he’s not a jerk. He’s actually a nice guy!” “Oh yeah, I know him! He brought bagels to work last Monday. Really friendly guy, that Phil.” The point of life is to be friendly. To be a nice guy. Or a nice girl. But if you’re a guy, don’t try to be a nice girl. It’s a very difficult process.
I try to play the role of a gentleman. Who doesn’t like a gentleman? I try to show respect to everybody. Sometimes that’s very very very VERY hard. Seriously, some people don’t deserve respect. But you just gotta look them in the eye and squeeze their hand really tight when you shake it and smile at them anyway. To all those jerks out there, I have a message foryou. If you would prefer to be an ass in life, then good luck to you man! I wish you the best. Go ahead and do whatever it is you want to do. Just don’t expect anything from me, dude. I’ve done my fair share of giving up seats on the subway to people who I’m not 100% sure are actually pregnant, helping people up stairs with strollers while theres an elevator five feet away, saying thank you to cashiers who don’t give me enough change, tipping slow delivery people, explaining directions to clueless tourists, recycling when it would be sooooo much easier to just throw it in the damn trash, coming to a complete stop at STOP signs when there’s nobody around, and yadda yadda yadda. So don’t tire me with your B.S., okay? I’m out to treat people well, so if you’re a jerk, please, and thank you, and get the hell out of my way.
