Be nice!

If you are on social media, you’ve probably seen the memes poking fun at people in different ways. Mostly what shows up in my feeds are comments on appearance, usually clothing related. Sometimes I still catch myself laughing at them. I used to share them freely. Then one day, a friend pointed out that we should be building one another up, not tearing one another down. It made me think. A lot of other things made me think as well. But there was a turning point for me.

Remember the old adage, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” This applies to much of life. When we laugh at and pass around pictures in order to make fun of people, what are we saying? It is certainly nothing nice. Does it directly hurt the people in the photos? Sometimes it does. Even if it doesn’t, that doesn’t make it right.

What does this teach our children? When my kid is mean to another kid, I tell him to stop. I try to teach him how to be nice. So how then can I turn around and poke fun at someone in the same vein?

This has other implications as well. As I stated above, there are a lot of photos out there of people who aren’t dressed the way we have decided is attractive. Take this one for example: 

It is none of my business how these women wish to dress. I highly doubt that they thought, “Gosh, I sure hope Meghan approves of my clothing choices today.” They are not on Earth for my viewing pleasure, or yours. It is not their job to please your delicate fashion sensibilities any more than your job is to please them. If someone wants my opinion about their clothing, they can ask. Until such time, I will keep my opinion to myself. Even then, I don’t really care what you pick. It’s your body. Dress it how you want to.

Lastly, given how these photos were taken from the back, I’m guessing none of the subjects were aware of the photo being taken. That’s just creepy. If you want to be nice, then mind your own business.

Be nice.

Don’t be a creep.