What would Nancy Drew do?
Well, my little book Nancy Drew's Guide to Life offers this bit from the chapter "The Delicate Art of Etiquette":
The author of this helpful pocket-sized book, Jennifer Worick, gleaned this gem from Nancy's adventure The Secret of the Old Clock.
No, it's not important right now what the secret of the clock was. That's over, folks. Nancy took care of that. The important thing is the lunch, the enjoyment of the meal, regardless of your circumstances or should we say your perception of what's "wrong."
Let it go, Nancy is saying. Take a lovely drive in your convertible, find yourself a pleasant tearoom, perhaps in a little seaside town, and sit yourself down with your chums.
I don't think she would actually say, "Turn that frown upside down." Nancy didn't force cheeriness as a rule. Being pleasant and polite is enough. It's important and it's right. In fact, those who are unpleasant and rude usually turn out to be people it's wise to be suspicious of because the road from rude to thug is short.
Nancy was brought up to be pleasant and polite. I think that's what Carson Drew, her handsome attorney father, and Hannah Gruen, her housekeeper since the death of her mother, instilled in her.
Hannah Gruen, now that's a name that's fit for a Hitchcock movie evil-simmerer. It's the only incongruent (haha) nomenclature I can think of in the whole Nancy Drew world.
There's Ned Nickerson, her b.f., Bess Fayne and George (last name?), her best girlfriends, who also happen to be cousins. They are her best posse for the mystery solvin'. (From Nancy after The Clue of the Black Keys was under her belt: "Train your friends in the art of investigation. They could save your life if they remember your teachings.")
Draw a line from Nancy into the world of girl sleuths and you'll end up eventually with Buffy of the vampire slayin'. I think Nancy could understand the complex relationships that occur for Buffy when her friends are too involved for their own good in the anti-vampire business. Nancy would say, "It's important to take time out to have fun with your friends, particularly if they spend considerable time doing your bidding" (from The Clue in the Old Stagecoach).
Nancy knows about making boundaries too. From her adventures in The Mystery of the 99 Steps, she learned not to let a friend strong-arm you into forgoing your agenda for her own pursuit of fun.
Nancy was the consummate balancer of work, play, love and learning. She knew a thing or two about dressing smart, letting the sun hit her titian-colored hair just right and protecting and earmarking suspicious footprints for the police (ring them with stones ala The Clue of the Dancing Puppet).
I am going to follow Nancy's advice. As soon as I can answer 50+ emails, return 10+ voicemails and generally grow eight arms, I'm outta here for that lunch! {Jennifer Worick's book Nancy Drew's Guide to Life is available in fine shops and generally everywhere else. I highly recommend it, though I wish I had written it myself. Hey, Nancy wouldn't be envious. She'd say, "Rock on, Jennifer!"}