I am a really sensitive person and I always have been. Unfortunately, this marked me as a target when I was a kid. As someone who was made fun of her entire career K-12, I think I may be more reactive than other people to making fun of someone.
That’s not to say I don’t do it on occasion.. sometimes someone will have a crazy outfit on or look interesting, and I can’t help myself. However, I think it’s one thing to laugh at someone’s overall “look” or at their drunken behavior than it is to make fun of something that is obviously a personal struggle. I get a bit protective of people, even complete strangers, when it seems someone is exploiting a personal struggle for a few laughs.
I get really angry when people are making fun of someone for their weight.. yes, RandomMrdan, that means you. Do you think overweight people like being that way? Granted, some may not care, but trust me, the majority of them have poor self-images, thanks to everything we’re fed every day, telling us you have to be skinny to be beautiful. Don’t you think that if it was easy for overweight people to lose weight, we’d all make that decision and be a perfect size? It’s so much more complicated than exercising and cutting calories. Yes, those things are at the heart of the solution, but they don’t address the root of the problem. Until you have an eating disorder, or body dysmorphic disorder, or suffer through a lifetime of what it’s like to be overweight.. please don’t judge. You have no idea.
I also get pissed when people pick on mentally-limited people. I realize I was given a gigantic gift when God gave me my brain and that some people were not as lucky. You have to realize when someone has limited capacities that that’s what God gave them. It’s like I got the keys to a Ferarri and they got the keys to a Geo Metro. They’re glued to the seat for life and they can only drive at the speed their car will allow. I hate seeing people making fun of “dumb” people, when instead they could be working around the perceived obstacle to reach the person.