Nice guys finish last. Boy if that isn’t true. There must be some of you out there that know what I am talking about. How many times have we heard that? You know, always trying to do the right thing, proving that chivalry is not dead. But where does it get us? Last!

Thirty years ago I was going to a school for baking. Being young and energetic, I always rode my bicycle to class. It was only about fifteen miles, piece of cake. I enjoyed the class and got a nice workout. Little did I know that it turned out I was allergic to the mites that live in flour so that career was out. But anyways, half way through the course I was peddling through the main street of the town where the class was held. As I approached a large intersection a four ton dump pulled alongside of me. It was a huge old truck with the turn signal on top of the front fender instead of being integrated into the body. As we careened down the street side by side I saw that turn signal illuminate. Immediately after this illumination I realized that I could not see the driver, therefore he could not see me. I looked ahead and realized I was at the turn. At the moment of this realization the front tire started to turn in my direction. Crap! At the last second I dove off and onto the sidewalk, leaving my precious 1978 Fuji Grand Tourer to its own devices. The truck turned, the rear of the Fuji was crumpled and I was a mess of road rash. Nothing broken or permanently damaged, but I was a mess. I climbed off of the sidewalk and was surround by attorneys handing me cards. I turned from the and saw the driver get out of the truck. We was an elderly man and was visibly shaking. I was sore but I knew I was fine so went over to the driver and tried to console him. I assured him that I was fine. I was worried that he was going to have a heart attack. The police arrived and whisked me off to the hospital with my Fuji in the trunk. I was washed up and bandaged, did not take long. I assured the police that there was no need to press charges because neither of us could see the other. They told me the driver was ok. I got my Fuji back and with some prodding and bending was able to continue my ride to baking school. A very rough ride. The way home that night was one of the longest rides I ever had. A couple of days later I received a phone call from the insurance company of the company that the old driver worked for. They wanted to know what I wanted. I told them that “I wanted my bike repaired”. They did not believe me at first but after a lengthy discussion I convinced them that it was not solely their driver’s fault. It was mine as well but I would like my bike fixed. They sent me a check for a new bike. I was happy because I used the extra cash to not only fix my bike but give it some upgrades.

This is the way I have always approached life. Why ruin the old guys life for a wad of cash. Be a nice guy something good will eventually come of it. Right? Still waiting!

As nice guys, how many times have we heard that? It is almost a curse. When you are hired by a new owner one of the first things the former owner says is what a “nice guy” you are. Is this a code word for screwable?

As nice guys how many times have we helped others, or been there to listen when others were to selfish to lend an ear. A young lady that I worked with once took me aside and asked me how to spell this stupid little second grade word, can’t remember what it was. She said she came to me because she knew that I would not make fun of her and tell the other workers. She was right, I never did.

I want to set up this nice guy blog and see how many others out there feel like I do. I have plenty of time to do this right now because my boss kind of decided not to keep the heath care that that I had with the former owner. “Is that a problem?” was his reply. Yeah, I am over 50 I said. That didn’t sink in because now I am out of work with an injury that could have been prevented with regular care. So, I guess it was a problem.

So tell me, anyone else out there a nice guy that has been screwed because of this weakness, or flaw in our personality? If so, leave a comment and come back to see more posts, I have plenty.