Help ! Somebody is being nice to me...

Please select the correct answer

1) The Dutch guy above is:

( ) Not nice
(x) Nice

(Note: one of our best friends. Sincere, spontaneous... And he never expects things in return.)

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This would be hilarious if it was not true.

According to a research made by Stichting Ideële Reclame (SIRE), Dutch people have become "not nice". "People have become more individualistic and suspicious." Therefore SIRE has lauched last Tuesday a campaign: "Pay attention: Nice" ("Pas op, aardig").

It is remarkable that 67 % of the people researched by SIRE think dat people in the Netherlands are not friendly. Spots on the radio, TV and on the website www.pasopaardig.nl with tips shall stimulate more friendliness among the population. "Very impressive is the conclusion that 2 million people have said that they have no clue about how they could use kindness" says Ivo Roefs from SIRE. "With this campaign we would like to point out that when people act friendly they shouldn't expect something in return. " 17% of the interviewed by SIRE said that they get very suspicious when an unknown person says or does something nice for them. "Life, epecially in the big cities, is anonymous. People in the NL ignore each other" concludes Roefs. It is his belief that when you do three nice things for others per day, you get happier yourself. "But the Dutch are too unmannerly ("horkerig") for that," adds him.

According to Jan Derksen from Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen "People in the NL celebrate the individualism. (...) There is little empathy, Dutch people are suspicious and have become less nice than ever."

Source: DvhN.nl

I ran immediatlly to the site www.pasopaardig.nl when I read this article. The site is FUN !! There are five types of quite nice people and you learn how you can react on them and get used to their nice behaviour (they do not expect anything in return). What to say when they make a compliment, accept their offers, be thankful.

Being nice should be the most normal thing in the world...

When I first arrived here in the NL I was doing a lot the gesture of thumbs up to others. Also smiling more, blinking only one eye... The Dutch population thought I was definitely idiot (about the smiles while staring or trying to speak Dutch) or was flirting (the "one eye blink" thing). The thumbs up gesture I still do it sometimes, especially when cars stop for me on the zebra cross - but much less than I used to. I used to bring nice sweet things to people more frequently than now. I have noticed that many Dutch people were embarrassed, puzzled or frankly disappointed about it ("Shit, and now, what does she expect from me in return ?"). Now that I feel more Dutchie I have to remember to do that again !!

Any thoughts on that ? Any personal experiences ?