Apparently, it’s no longer acceptable to simply have a bad day. We must make sure everyone else has one too.
You want to know what happened?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing. It’s just another ordinary day. A few inconveniences, a couple of minor annoyances, and the usual reminder that humans are, unfortunately, human. But apparently, if I want to keep up with modern society, I need to turn these everyday occurrences into a full-blown public meltdown.
It seems we have reached a point where a minor mistake, a disappointing experience or an inconvenience is no longer something to discuss privately, resolve amicably or simply move on from. No, that would be far too sensible. Instead, we must immediately take to social media, announce our outrage to the world and do our very best to publicly shame, embarrass or damage someone else’s reputation.
A person makes a mistake? Expose them! A local business has an off day or fails to meet our exceptionally high, princess-like expectations? Destroy them online! Heaven forbid someone provides anything less than a flawless experience while navigating their own life, challenges and occasional bad days.
Honestly, when did we become so comfortable with publicly tearing each other apart?
Perhaps I’m the odd one out, but I cannot understand the appeal of constantly searching for something to be offended by. Imagine how exhausting it must be to go through life with your finger permanently hovering over the social media outrage button, just waiting for the next opportunity to be personally offended.
The irony is that while we’re busy documenting everyone else’s imperfections, we’re missing an awful lot of the good around us.
Can we please remember that everyone has struggles? That people have difficult days, make mistakes, get overwhelmed and occasionally fall short? That a little patience, understanding or even a private conversation might achieve considerably more than a public pile-on?
If a local business is struggling, perhaps supporting them is more constructive than trying to finish them off. If someone makes an honest mistake, perhaps a little grace is more appropriate than a public character assassination.
We all make mistakes. We’ve all accidentally cut someone off in traffic, been short-tempered, misunderstood a situation or delivered less than our best. And let’s be honest, we’ve probably all been the difficult customer at some point, whether we care to admit it or not.
Nobody becomes a better person by making someone else feel smaller. The temporary satisfaction of getting likes, comments and a chorus of agreement may feel wonderful, but the damage caused to another person or business can last considerably longer than our fifteen minutes of online outrage.
And perhaps that’s the real problem. Negativity breeds attention, attention breeds more negativity, and before long we’re all participating in a cycle that benefits absolutely nobody.
So, the next time you come across one of these outrage-filled posts, perhaps resist the temptation to jump into the comments and add fuel to the fire. Sometimes ignoring the drama is the most effective response. After all, attention is precisely what keeps it alive.
And finally, perhaps before we start pointing fingers, we should take a moment to look in the mirror.
We don’t need to be perfect. We just need to be a little more understanding, a little more forgiving and a little less eager to assume the worst in others.
Let’s spend less time broadcasting our outrage and more time practising the kindness, patience and compassion we so often expect from everyone else.
The world doesn’t need more people pointing out what’s wrong with everyone.
It needs more people making an effort to get things right themselves.