Kindness

 

It seems that much of society has lost the concept of 'kindness'.  In so many ways, people are enraged at the actions of others, some to the point of physical violence.  On the other hand, sometimes verbal violence is worse, in part because it can leave wounds that never heal.

Making snide comments about another person's appearance - be it their weight, their looks, their hair - or lack thereof - isn't necessary.  And it most certainly is not kind.

But these types of things are just the symptom of a society that seems to have lost it's moral compass and it's capacity to be kind to others.

People come in all shapes, sizes, colours, and health.  Someone who is sick may not look ill, other than something superficial, like a loss of hair.  I didn't go entirely bald while I took chemo, but my hair got very thin, and I gotta tell ya, my image in the mirror was a constant reminder than I was not healthy, that I was doing something incredibly hard.  Because chemo IS hard - it is a fine tuned balance of poisoning the person in order to poison the cancer, without actually killing the person.

My hair never did come back in the way it had been, and I am reminded of my journey and all that has happened *because* of the chemo and other treatments that have similarly attempted to get rid of the cancer, without getting rid of me.

People who make fun of others for their appearance are saying a lot more about themselves than they are about the people they are mocking.  But their words slice, dice and leave unseen wounds that cut to the quick.

There are some 'comedians' I refuse to watch because IMHO they are simply cruel.  I won't give them my time and I certainly won't give them my money.

Bullies are everywhere and they seem to have gotten much bolder over the years.  Or maybe I'm just noticing them more.  And sometimes?  Bullies need to be reminded of how inappropriate their behaviour and words are.

So I don't condone the actions at the Oscar awards, but it sounds like the comedian has been nasty to this couple numerous times and wasn't likely to stop.  He used his power of an international platform to be nasty to someone - doesn't matter if she was privileged - he used his words to cut her.  And he suffered consequences.  Were they appropriate?  Perhaps not.  Will he now stop his harassment?  Possibly.  

As someone said 'sometimes you have to get their attention'.  Has his attention been 'got' now?  Maybe.  But somehow I doubt he will stop being mean, he will just switch his attention to someone else.

When they show you who they are, believe them.