I like to think of myself as a good guy. I doubt that you're surprised by this, I think that most people like to think of themselves as nice people. I also try to be fair. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to get something they want. Sometimes, these two things are at odds.
I was proctoring a Physics exam the other day. This gives me many opportunities to be nice. I can smile at students as they hand in their tests, I can walk to the students when they have a question, rather than having them come to me, the list could go on and on.
I also have many opportunities to be fair. When a student has a question, I have to be careful not to give the student a hint about how to solve the problem when I answer the question. Often, this just means that I am limited to re-reading the question to them aloud.
Something that I discovered isn't so clear, is loaning materials to students. If someone forgets their calculator, my nice guy instinct says the I should give it to them. But then, what if another student needs a calculator. For can I be fair with my limited resources? After giving it much thought, I've decided that I have no fairness qualms with loaning my calculator to a person. All students are supposed to bring their own calculators, so it's their own fault if they don't bring one, but I can make a difference in at least one student's day by letting them borrow mine.
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