Why are people so quick to laugh at others?

[MisterTinkles]

Because everybody says, does, and acts totally stupid once in a while....and its just TOO funny!
Its funny because the person that is saying it, doing it, or acting like it, does not realize it. THATS whats funny about it.

I even get "stupid" once in a while....and believe me......my friends DO point it out!!! For HOURS on end!!!
LOL

[MisterTinkles]

we were at a bar the other night and noticed how some patrons would laugh if a staff person broke a glass. kinda nasty. Say what you want i suspect we have all done it tho.

Thats "bar etiquette" to laugh, hoot, holler, and yell "woohoo" when a bartender breaks a glass.

Ive been to some "upper class" restaurants where a bartender breaks something, and they get a nice round of applause.

In more "blue collar" places, they hoot and holler and clap.

Its just whats done.

Why? Because they are bartenders and they are expected to know their job so well, they never break anything. So when they do, they get applauded for it...showing they are fallible.

[davearoo]

I agree: laughing at someone else's bumbling isn't necessarily malicious.

Why do people always laugh when someone slips on a banana peel? It's more out of solidarity: an acknowledgement that we, too, have done things like that in the past. Only when the laughter is meant to mock somebody does it cross the line into malice.

Those who have fun mocking people will be punished with empty lives. The rest of us can simply pretend to have no idea what they're doing, as if they were from Mars.

[matty7]

Arkansota - you know yourself about the problems you have so you have to realise you are going to do things and say things that are going either make people laugh or even upset them even though you don't intend to - its really hard to understand whats acceptable in company (ive been there many times myself) so don't take everything to heart as it will really start to upset and grind you down, my friends tell me when im out of line - maybe you can ask too when you get a bad response too mate just to prevent a repeat