My mother taught me to be nice.

Gratuitous pony pic, not mine

From Susanna Breslin, of Forbes. Sept 26, 2011

www.forbes.com/sites/susannahbreslin/2011/09/26

"I could make a list of all the various personality characteristics of which I am not a fan, but waffler is really up there at the top. Sometimes women are wafflers, even more so than men, because it's easier to be nice. Actually, it's not easier to be nice. It's easier for everyone else for you to be nice, but it's harder for you, because you never say what you really think, and nobody ever knows, and then you want to go home and saw at your wrists with a dull bread knife.

Gratuitous Photoshop prompt, mine, feel free to steal

"Unfortunately, I've noticed this waffling behavior among women bloggers -- who take a stand and then back off it, who form an opinion and then apologize for it, who write a bold post and then delete it -- and among young female journalists. These are not great bloggers nor great journalists. They are jellyfish."

My blog entry:
It's hard to be nice. Many people, especially women,  will confront you for not being nice. When this happens to me, I back off, I didn't mean to offend. If I were aggressive, I would ask: "How could you accuse me of offending you? How awful!" But  I back down, appease at all costs. These are not my friends, but I don't need new enemies. They are threatening to become my new enemies and they are wining control. They are now in charge, they are now the alpha mare. I am not. Now I am the mare in the back of the herd that cannot get any hay and must be separated.

Let me measure your brain

I can't figure out how not to be me. I don't like to be me. I go home and sit down with a book. I stare at the page. My stress level during my staring activity is about what you would expect while waiting your turn to give a speech in class in 7th grade. Maybe if I go to sleep, I will wake up as someone else.