Your anecdote gave a different result than the one in the story. This doesn't prove or disprove that it's better to be nice or clever. It only tells that there

Your anecdote gave a different result than the one in the story. This doesn't prove or disprove that it's better to be nice or clever. It only tells that there is no absolute rules like "it's better to X than X". Those rules help to illustrate some points but none are perfect science.