You Sacrificed, They Laughed
I have been thinking about something lately. Why do some people get a good opportunity to do something meaningful, but instead choose to use it to make a fool of someone else?
You know the kind of situation I mean.
Someone gives you access to their space, their story, their ideas or even their life. Maybe they trust you. Maybe they simply didn’t expect you to turn around and use the opportunity against them. Then suddenly, they become the joke.
Everyone is laughing. People are entertained. The person behind it all feels clever. But the person at the centre of the joke is left wondering, Was all that really necessary?
I enjoy a good laugh. Please don’t get me wrong. Life is already serious enough, and sometimes we all need to laugh at ourselves and the silly things we do. But there is a difference between laughing with someone and making sure everyone is laughing at them.
Not every opportunity needs to be used to expose somebody.
Not every story you know needs to be shared.
Not everything you have access to needs to become content, gossip or entertainment.
Sometimes you may know something embarrassing about another person. You may even be in a position where you can easily expose them, especially if you have an audience. And yes, perhaps people would laugh. Perhaps your post would get attention. Maybe everyone would be talking about it.
But what do you gain from making someone else look foolish?
I think we are living in a time when people are becoming too comfortable with embarrassing others for attention. We call it a joke. We call it content. We call it “just having fun.” But sometimes the person being laughed at is not having fun at all.
They may smile because they don’t want to spoil the mood. They may laugh because they don’t know how else to react. But that doesn’t always mean they are okay with it.
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And this is where I think we need to be a little more thoughtful.
Having the chance to do something does not mean you have to do it.
You may have the perfect opportunity to embarrass someone, but you can choose not to. You may have information that could put someone in an awkward position, but you can keep it to yourself. You may have an audience ready to laugh, but you don’t have to provide them with somebody else’s humiliation.
Sometimes, choosing not to do something says a lot about you.
There are people who have influence and use it well. They make others feel seen. They correct people without embarrassing them. They can laugh without being cruel. They know how to tell a funny story without destroying someone’s dignity in the process.
Then there are those who seem to wait for the perfect opportunity to catch someone off guard.
Personally, I think the older I get, the more I appreciate people who know how to handle others with care. People who can be trusted with information. People who don’t turn everything they know into a story for public consumption. People who don’t need to make someone else look stupid to feel important.
Because the truth is, opportunities reveal people.
What you do when you have the chance tells us a little about who you are.
You can have the chance to embarrass someone and still choose kindness.
You can have the chance to expose someone and choose discretion.
You can have the chance to make a fool of someone and simply decide, No, this is not who I want to be.
And honestly, I think we need more of that.
Not every opportunity is an invitation. Sometimes, the best thing you can do when you have the chance is to leave someone’s dignity intact.
