He Seemed Like a Nice Guy

On the local television news last week, there was a story about a man who was arrested on suspicion of killing his wife. The reporter stated that the couple had a history of loud arguments and calls to the police department. Continuing, it was explained that the wife had filed for a divorce about a week prior, and on Tuesday, while she was gardening in the couple's yard, the husband allegedly, rammed her with his pickup truck, crushing her against the wall of their garage with enough force to nearly demolish the structure. The video showed the buckled wall, with its gray siding forced out away from the framing.

In true TV Reporter style, the newsman went about gathering up the splinters of the story, pointing out the crime scene tape cordoning off the spring green lawn and garage, and the modest, but well kept street of tidy homes. And, he talked to the neighbors, getting their opinions of situation and the man.

"He seemed like a nice guy," was the comment from one woman. And, what did she base this opinion of his character on? He always greeted her when he rode by on his scooter.

Later in the week, the same news station ran a story about a coach who is accused of sexually abusing one of his athletes. Of course the parents and community were shocked, because, "he seemed like a nice guy." One of the parents interviewed commented that the coach was friendly and talkative.

Then it happened again yesterday, a man with a gun in a neighborhood, near a school. After firing several times at the police, he was shot and killed by one of the officers. In the subsequent interviews with people who knew this man, the story was the same: He seemed like a nice guy.

If I had a nickel for every time someone says, "He seemed like a nice guy," I'd be rich. Think about how many times you've heard this comment, probably, like me, more often than you can count.

We all want to believe as Anne Frank did, "that people are really good at heart."

Until they prove to be otherwise.

Also in the news recently, not that he has ever really left the spotlight for any length of time, is O.J. Simpson, the handsome football hero, actor and spokesman. He, and his group, were declined service at a Louisville steakhouse, the night before the Kentucky Derby.

At first, O.J.'s lawyer said that it was because the restaurant owner is a racist.

If O.J. Simpson were any other man trying to eat a dinner at a restaurant, and was declined service, I might think that possibly the restaurant owner had a problem with someone of a different race, but, O.J. isn't any other customer. O.J. is a celebrity, and a very controversial one at that.

O.J. Simpson is a man who was on trial for killing his ex-wife and one other person. He was found not guilty. He vowed to continue searching for the killer, but, his investigation of nearly every golf course in America, has yet to yield another suspect. He wrote a (yet to be published book), hypothesising how, if, he were the killer exactly how he would have committed the crimes. He seems to be a person who seeks attention, without regard to the kind of attention that he is receiving.

The restaurant owner had every right to protect his business and his patrons, and, if he thought that O.J.'s presence at his restaurant would upset people or cause a stir of curiosity, then he did the right thing by declining service. And from the accounts that I read, it sounds like O.J. did the right thing by leaving without creating an incident.

Then the lawyer got involved, and the "R" word was used.

Perhaps O.J. doesn't realize that his reputation is questionable, and that it isn't always about skin color, that on some level, there has to be consequences for actions, and that a restaurant owner has the right to decline service to someone whom he feels is potentially disruptive to his business. I suspect that O.J. knows full well why he wasn't served that night, but rather than showing some grace, he has decided to exploit a situation, perhaps to build some sympathy for himself.

But, in another odd twist, I have read that O.J.'s attorney has decided not to pursue the racial discrimination lawsuit, that he had been touting, instead, calling the restaurant owner a publicity seeker. I don't know this attorney, but, I'm certain that with a client like O.J., he would know a publicity seeker when he met one.

Maybe we, as a society, should re-evaluate which characteristics make up a "nice guy." If it is only our impression of the way they treat us personally, how often they greet us, or how sweetly they smile, then I wonder if that is an accurate gage of how nice a "nice guy" really is. By all accounts, convicted and executed murderer, Ted Bundy seemed like a nice guy, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to gain the trust of his victims. And his trial proved him to be otherwise.

I can imagine O.J. and his friends walking out of the restaurant that night. O.J. probably smiled at the other patrons as he exited, maybe he shook a hand or two. As he brushed past a young couple seated by the door, an onlooker whispered to her dinner date, "He seemed like a nice guy."