Has it ever happened to you that someone made fun of you in front of others, and you pretended to laugh along with them, but once they were gone, you wondered: Why do I let this person treat me this way?
Personally, I'm going through this situation I have a friend at college who, on several occasions, makes fun of me in front of others and belittles me with comments he knows will hurt my feelings. Sometimes he does this when a girl is around, just to make her laugh and come across as someone with a great sense of humor.
And how do I react? I smile. The others think I鈥檓 laughing along with him, but they don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 really going on inside me. I don鈥檛 want to start an argument in front of everyone or show just how much his words are hurting me. So I stay silent and hide my pain behind my smile.
What I can't understand is why someone would have to humiliate their own friend just to make someone else laugh. Is it really something to be proud of-making people laugh by putting someone else down?
When I sometimes let my displeasure show, he replies, My friend, it was just a joke.
But I'd like him to put himself in my shoes, even if just for a minute. If, in front of everyone, I insulted him, belittled him, and used his flaws to make someone else laugh, would he still find it funny? Or would it hurt him, too?
I think that someone who claims to be your friend should never make you smile when their words hurt you.
I'm not looking for a friend I can't joke around with, and I don't want to become someone who gets offended by everything either. I just want people to understand that jokes have their limits and that friendship should always be based on respect.
Perhaps those who were there will remember the laughter that erupted that day, but I will remember the words that were spoken to me.
Would you fake a smile like I did, or would you tell him straight out that he's crossed the line?
image is created with chatgpt
Translated from Somali to English with the help of ChatGPT and DeepL