I hate those shows where they show people falling down, or tripping, or in some other way doing something embarrassing. I never get it when people laugh at stuff like that. It never even occurs to me to think that it's funny.
I'm not saying that it isn't funny. I am just saying that it isn't funny to me.
I have always been oddly sensitive that way. I find it very uncomfortable to see people in painful or embarrassing situations, whether physical or emotional. If someone falls down in front of me, my first impulse is to make sure they are okay, whereas many people (including, quite possibly, the person who fell) can't help but laugh.
Emotional pain is even more of a problem. I wouldn't watch "Napoleon Dynamite" for ages because I thought it was a movie where a geeky kid got bullied and made fun of the entire time, and the thought of watching that made me unbelieveably uncomfortable.
I was never bullied-much-as a kid. But I remember watching other kids get bullied and trying to seek them out and be friendly to them and make them laugh. The times I have stooped to being hurtful and unkind, I ended up feeling like such an awful person. As I look back over my younger years, it's the times I was sarcastic or openly distainful of someone else that really come back and haunt me. The times I thought I was being clever or going for a laugh are not remembered with fondness.
So now, as an adult, I guess that has stayed with me. I never want to be responsible for another person feeling humiliated or ashamed. I find that the older I get, the more deeply I empathize with people. The more I wish that it was in all our natures to be more tender with one another's trips and falls.
Now, please don't think I don't have a sense of humor. And please don't think that I look at people who DO laugh at things like as though they are bad or wrong. I don't.
I just don't get it.
3 comments:
I want you for my friend. You're someone who I would always feel safe with, knowing that you would never laugh at me behind my back. You wouldn't make light of the little things that trouble me. And I would know this because of the way I see you treat others.
The world would be a better place if we all "didn't get it" like you don't "get it". Hurtful things are never funny. There are plenty of genuinely funny things to laugh at, with laughing at the expense of another person.
Thanks for this post. It's a great message. And I really do want you for my friend.
ooops, I meant "withOUT laughing at the expense of another person."
I know you have a sense of humor. I've seen it in action =)
Anyway, I haven't spoken to you in ages and thought now would be as appropriate of a time as ever. eh? =)
Well, I must say that i miss you and Bran very much. I hope you are both doing well. I'm excited to see you guys in April! =)
Much love,
Jas
Post a Comment