by Syd Thompson

Created on: April 27, 2009

Why do nice guys finish last? Why do nice guys feel like they're cheated in some way or another? Is it who we're looking for versus what we're looking for?

What catches the eye, our attention alongside the highway? We could be driving through the mountains, on a long stretch of road where one side of the interstate overlooks a great valley below. There may even be a shimmering lake glistening from the early morning sun. It's one of the most beautiful sights we could come across. On the other side of the road, a truck aimlessly smashed into a small fiber-glass car. Smoke billows into the air. There are emergency lights flickering blue and red and paramedics frantically moving around. A cop sways his arm to keep traffic flowing by. But we slow to a near stop... why?

We look for the ugly, the nasty... the exciting thing to our right. We look for a possibility of the worst kind because that's what gets our hearts thumping. Will we see a lifeless body? Worry fills our minds, "I hope there weren't any children"; but in truth, that would make for the most horrific story we could tell our friends and loved ones. Perhaps we could appreciate our own luck and lives a little more because of it. Though, at the time, we're not considering that. We may mouth the words, squeaking out the tiny voice of concern shortly thereafter, but that's not why we slow down and crane our necks to the crushed frame of the automobile.

Do nice guys finish last? I think so. Same could be said about gals too I suppose. It's not because we want it to be this way. It's simply because some of us are unsure of what it is that we need over what we want. Sometimes they're not the same thing. Though I believe it is out there. It's through the mistakes made from "Bad Guys" that some woman learn (though sometimes not so quickly). And, again, the same could be said about guys. Sometimes nice guys will get lucky and find that gal that truly understands who she's with and is thankful. To a lot of us, myself included, this seems rare.

Though I stand to say that nice guys finish last, I still think that perhaps we finish most rewarded. The ugly may be interesting to look at, that bloodied stain upon the highway; but it's the valley below that, in time, we eventually all look to and feel hopeful again. It's down in the valley that we all wish to be, not stuck on that damn highway in what is the most wretched traffic.

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