“They can afford to be Nice”

Can any one afford not to be ?
   
    I recently had the privilege of working in the company of some very famous and highly successful people. They were not all “household” names but many of them are the tops in their field.
    I commented to someone about how nice these people were and how pleasant the working conditions. His response “They can afford to be Nice”, it took a few minutes for that to sink in and I began to think, that in a way, it was a sad observation. Is it necessary for one to first, be wealthy, successful, famous and powerful in order to be nice ?
    It may go to the question of mankind’s basic nature, I have always felt that mankind’s basic nature was GOOD. I have debated the point with Teachers, Professors, Clergyman, Friends and Family. I have been told that I was naive, idealistic and needed to “get real“. Admittedly there is evidence all around the I may be wrong but I shall continue to wear my “Rose Colored Glasses” when I can.
    I was working on a movie, and one of the Production People told me that in this “room” there are at least 20 Academy or Emmy Awards, not 20 different award winners mind you, but between Directors, Editors, Cinematographers, Costuming, Special Effects etc. and ,oh yes, Actors.
    This experience , for me, was evidence that my theory is correct. It is impossible for me to believe that during the time period it took these people to rise to the top of their profession, that they “Back stabbed”, slandered, cheated, stepped on or in any way mistreated a larger number of people and then when they reached the top of their profession suddenly STARTED being nice.
    I am smart enough to know that none of them are perfect but somewhere along the way they must have learned that they could afford to be “nice”.[“you draw more flies with honey than with vinegar”, I never knew why we would want to draw flies, but do understand the implication.].
    This was a great “new” experience in the movie business for me, as it was for many others working it. I heard many others remark how pleasant an environment it was. I believe it also stems from doing something you enjoy and doing it well.
    I have written previously about a recent production in which we extras and every one else were treated poorly. This also was a big budget Movie with a big “STAR” and a well known Director but in general everyone was treated with disdain and condescension. The job of an extra is not as easy as some might think, the hours are long, standing, walking, sitting, marching, hot, cold, hungry, thirsty, sleepy [why do we do it? because we love it, the last time I did anything like this I was in the Army, the pay was about the same and I was a lot younger, ha]. We are aware of the "Job" requirements and the general conditions under which we will be working and are accepting of that. However "attitude is every thing" . here in "HOLLYWOOD SOUTH" we are trying to establish our selves as a good place for movies to be made, we need the financial boost and the Motion Picture people need the Tax Savings we can provide here. That experience for many in our area was the proverbial "Straw", many have sworn to never work as an extra again, which is a shame as many need the work and a few productions since then have a hard time getting the people they needed.
      I hope those people who have been less than "NICE" can achieve the success in their field that they must want. I hope we continue to get to work with professional Production Companies and 'NICE' people. I for one am convinced that the two go hand in hand.
     I believe that people who are good at their job, happy in their careers and successful are NICE people.

And the others need to answer this question; 

Can any one afford not to be ?