On over-valuing niceness

I was all prepared to leave church on Sunday and post a scathing explanation of why I would never return to that parish: the unauthorized (and in some cases unintelligible) liturgical tinkering, the vapid sermon, the oh-so-aggressive (read: loud) organ-playing, the vestments that were almost parodic in their ugliness . . .

But on my way out one of the priests was so nice, and we had such a pleasant little chat, that I was mollified.

Niceness will do it for me every time.

(Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for my forthcoming insightful post on how mean people suck.)