I was in a shop the other day in one of the larger cities near where I live, when a package was delivered to the owner. As the man left, he stopped a minute to smile and chat to one of the employees, who was also male.
He hadn’t even left the store before the young man’s co-workers started to tease him, not because someone had flirted with him, but because a man had. I saw the delivery man’s face flush red and he hung his head as he left through the front door.
I saw him later that day, crossing the street with a package on his shoulder, a solitary figure, and my heart hurt for him all over again. He had been one human being reaching out to another, and had been ridiculed for it.
Please be careful with your words! They were teasing their friend in fun, at the expense of another person’s feelings. Isn’t there enough pain in the world without us adding to it?
People live’s are so “in the box” sometimes. They forget that people on the outside have ears and can hear you. We’ve all done it, but we have to work on being more observant of those on the outside of our focus.