“Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week, he stopped when he saw us laughing” Proudly penned by some hurtful person on some social media site.
Social media can be a two edged sword. For after this poor man was humiliated in social media, a few stood up for him, it went viral and now he is going to be the star of big dance party in his honor with music and celebrities taking part. Hear Here. And if you don’t tear up seeing this picture there is something wrong with you, not me.
But there is an issue here not mentioned.
I am a beach person, a pool person, a boat person and after I got down here to the Texas coast I spent lots of time at the beach with the kids. After a few beers I often found myself striking up conversations with overweight women trying to make them feel good about themselves, that getting into a swimsuit and having fun at the beach is something they need to do and to hell with everyone else. I must admit sometimes my good intentions backfired though. But I try anyway.
The dancing fat man is pretty much the same thing, which brings me to an admission I feel I must make.
When I was in my teens and still unsure of myself, it could have been me who pointed and laughed at this poor fellow. It’s a darkness of youth, especially harmful in those middle school years and now exacerbated by social media. As parents we can more readily see the harm caused by this because we would not our like to see our children hurt.
There are not 10 commandments there is only one.
1) Be Nice to each other.
Well two commandments.
2) If you make a mess clean it up.