Cheers for the truly nice people in our offices or employment shacks.

Do you really want to be one?

Nothing phases these folks, and much to my dismay, I have actually been accused as a member of the happy employee tribe. In my case, an exceptional number of negative events recently occurred in my employment environment;I dealt with the situation by becoming overly chipper.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being classified as one of the nice crew. Some of my co-workers are by-the-book "good" people: raising money at work for various charities, helping others with moving and organizing good-bye and hello lunches. The nice-ness comes so natural to this crew; they exude it.

When you are ever-so slightly cynical and seen the movie Office Space one too many times, these people can grate on you, just a wee bit.

Truly nice people say the following things:

• "Welcome to your working day, take a load off."
• "Smile, it's Wednesday Afternoon - 2.5 days to go!"
• "Bet some M&Ms will perk you right up!"
• "I'm wearing bright orange - think of me as a human sun, I can brighten your day" (this is no joke - I really couldn't make-up something this good).
• "Brought in snacky-snacks, just because! Everyone help themselves to some chocolate!" (Unfortunately, those with small children occasionally forget to drop the extra "y". I am thinking about reminding these nice people...)
  
  

One may also have the "nice, but annoying crowd";we all have them. Here are some simple, straight-up advice lines for dealing with these special mates:

• Ignore. The next time smile-ly Steve stands in your doorway and randomly starts telling you about his crazzzy night at the bar, wink at your officemate. He/she should know what to do. The moment your phone rings, you are in the clear.
• Say "I don't really like chocolate-marshmallow-peanut butter-super sugar cookies, thanks". Or,
  "My bikini doesn't really like me to eat snacks that are over 1000 calories a pop."
  To the co-worker that wants to know why you haven't stopped by his office to eat his "goodies" (not those goodies - if that ever happens, follow your organization's process for dealing with sexual harassment issues).
  
• When the response to your effort at being attentive and asking "How was your weekend?" is "A little stressful; we're trying to get pregnant", don't look horrified. Simply state "Thanks for sharing." and briskly walk away.