Have No Fear...

I was relating to a friend of mine a week or so ago a scene from the Paul Riser/Helen Hunt TV show "Mad About You". I'm almost certain that it was the first show, but the setup was: they met on the street and she lied to him to con him out of his newspaper. She dropped a drycleaning slip and in order to meet her, he picked up her clothes and took them to her office. She had just come out of a bad relationship and, of course he suffered some abuse at her hands. Riser's character then spoke a line that has stayed with me to this day... "Next time you and your girlfriends are sitting in a bar crying into your daiquiris because you can never meet a nice guy, remember that you just did." Of course, at that point they hooked up and the show went on for several seasons.

I have not always been a nice guy. I've done some things that I regret, and some that may haunt me to my grave. That being said, I know that I'm a nice guy now. I know, because I have seen both sides. I'm a little rough around the edges, a little too arrogant and loud, I have road rage, but I'm a nice guy.

I got beat up a little (deserved, I'm sure) over my ego last night. So, why is it that nice guys are supposed to be meek and mild? Lois Lane liked Clark Kent, but she loved Superman. Polly Purebred had a soft spot for Shoe Shine Boy, but Underdog made those little heart thingies pop out all around her.

I got the message to tone it down a little, but you see the thing is... I don't want to be Shoe Shine Boy. I want to be (not a bird, not a plane, not a frog... a frog? No, just little old me...) Underdog.