This weekend I read what I thought was a great blog post.  It was written by someone who had truly followed the advice, “If you wouldn’t do your job for free, then quit.”  Granted, it’s extreme.  However, as a person who did the same, I appreciated the perspective and definitely thought about sharing the blog with various audiences.

Then I got to the comments.

As a blogger, I understand what it’s like to put myself out there with a personal story and in my experience the feedback received has been positive overall.  Looking at these comments, I guess there are a lot of people out there who missed Thumper’s advice and feel they must spew their negativity about.

I read through the comments and sympathized a little as the difficulties in this job market and in certain industries are very real.  That said, at the end of the rants I was left feeling relieved that I didn’t have people like these guys hanging around in my life.  Whew!

So my thoughts this week are not about how you should stay in your career or not.  My thoughts are about attitudes.

We all know people who carry a “chip on their shoulder” and make us want to dodge out of the room when we see them coming.  Being a Debbie Downer not only impacts relationships but also can have an impact on our health and well-being, too.  Maybe that’s why it’s a lesson we were all taught at an early age.  If not by the adults around us, by Thumper and his wise mother.

Really.  If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.