16 of the best types of people in the world…

Yesterday I blogged about the world’s worst people. It wasn’t about the murderers and racists of this world, more the everyday villains who walk amongst us refusing to cover their mouths when they cough or insisting on using their phone at the cinema. You know the type of horrors I mean.

And in that ranty post I promised to keep a balance by celebrating the good guys too, so that’s what I’m doing today.

Of course we all know about the REALLY good guys: the doctors and nurses, the charity workers, the people saving the planet and rescuing puppies from wells before a shift at the fire station (wait, that sounds like an episode of Fireman Sam) and so on and so forth. But what about the more everyday folk?

Here are 16 of the BEST types of people in the world…

(Once again, let me know who I’ve missed!)

1. People who make great recommendations.

There are few things better than a person who says to you “I know you really liked that, so maybe you’ll like this?”. I have a few people I can really count on for good recommendations and these people are like angels who walk amongst us. They must be celebrated, because without them we’d never know about that great book or hidden restaurant or perfect beach or life-saving laundry tip.

2. People who offer you their Pay & Display ticket as they leave a car park.

It’s simple, it can save you 50p and it’s a small up yours to the local council. People who give away their car park tickets are great.

3. People who scrap small talk in favour of chatting about cool stuff instead.

Pretty much all adults hate talking about work, so why do we always default to this inane topic of conversation when meeting new people at a party? It’s such a joy to meet someone who doesn’t care about how you know the host but is really up for talking about the best thriller they ever watched, what they really think about aliens or their favourite scandal from the town they grew up in.

4. People who bring their dog on the tube.

Maaaaaan, there need to be more of these people. Extra bonus points for the dog owners who encourage you to pet the dog before you’ve even said anything, simply because they can tell that you’re dying to.

5. People who post questions on forums, but then *come back* to share the solution/outcome.

This cartoon from xkcd is one of the most real things I’ve ever seen. It’s a rare treat to find someone who follows up on a forum post but we need these people to to have confidence that we won’t die/it won’t break/there wasn’t a massive fire/he didn’t divorce her. FOLLOW UP YOUR FORUM QUESTIONS WITH AN OUTCOME. A panicky person Googling at 4am will thank you.

6. People who make meaningful introductions.

It’s just lovely when people do this, especially if it’s completely off the cuff and simply because someone thinks two people would get on really well together.

7. People who buy snacks for the car at the garage.

The person who comes back from paying for petrol armed with crisps and Haribo for everyone is a legit hero.

8. People who say hello to their pets on the radio.

I’m always surprised by how often this happens during Radio 2 phone-ins, but it makes my heart smile.

9. People who can keep a secret.

Let’s face it, there aren’t as many people like this as there should be. There are lots of people who can keep a secret from getting out to “certain people” (i.e it’s kept a secret from the people it needs to be kept secret from) but I don’t think there are many people who can 100% swear to not tell a soul.

10. People who pull off surprises. 

I suppose this is linked to being able to keep a secret, but to pull off any sort of genuine surprise where nobody has suspected a thing always smacks me as an amazing achievement. I’m pretty sure I’ve only done it once in my life, because I always get too excited and end up dropping extremely obvious clues.

11. People who point out when someone has pushed in line or is being rude.

It’s a very British thing to just not say something if somebody pushes in in a queue or acts rudely, so when someone does the simple thing of saying “there’s a line here mate” or “you shouldn’t speak to someone like that” there are mini high fives all round. We should all be this brave of course but as we’re not, well done to the people who take a stand.

12.  People who help clear the table.

There’s a big difference between offering to help and just getting up and helping. As a host, you’ll probably never say yes if a guest offers to help (“Don’t be crazy! You’re the guest! Sit down!”), but if they just get up and help then, well, it’s helpful.

Obviously this can be applied to all helping in general, not just dishes.

13. People who notice when someone has nobody to talk to and does something about it.

We can all be so wrapped up in our own lives that it can be easy to not realise that someone at a party/work thing/blogger event has nobody to talk to. There are people who will go out of their way to notice the person on their own and involve them. These people are awesome.

 

14. People who celebrate other people’s successes.

Whether it’s a simple RT on Twitter, a card for a new promotion or a massive night out in celebration of finally finishing a boring report – people who celebrate other people’s achievements are the best.

15. People who play the ridiculous arcade games at fun fairs.

Ya know, the precision throwing games or anything with a massive hammer. Essentially they’re games that we all want to play but they’re stupidly expensive and we’re all very aware that the odds are dramatically against us. Only certain people will stand there playing them and it makes for great entertainment. I live vicariously through you, crazy hammer guy.

16. People who suggest getting take-away delivered to long/late meetings.

It’s been a long time since I’ve worked in offices but my goodness, I LOVED the people who would pipe up and suggest a Domino’s.