Above all, be kind

I have had a few experiences the last few days with internet  horribleness. And it has left a really bad taste in my mouth. One of the reason I got off Facebook (other then my obsessive checking and rechecking statuses) was the fact that people can be down right nasty and rude on there. But is this also very common in blogland. Yes, when someone opens themselves up and posts things on the internet they are vulnerable to nasty comments, rude remarks and just plain ugliness. But this has me thinking... why? Why do we act this way towards each other? Why do we cut people down, say hurtful things and get, at times, just nasty as all get out? Just because someone has shared doesn't mean they want you down their throat.
Recently when Fiona Rosie goes down for her afternoon nap, the boys and I have taken to watching nature documentaries on Netflix. One we watched recently was on how man came out of the African rift valley, and some of the things that had to happen to make us what we are today... homo sapien sapien. One of the things was communal eating. The gathering together to prepare, cook and eat meat that was hunted. We no longer depend on each other in that same way. Even in some households there is no communal eating, no gathering together. We have forgotten what it is that makes us human. We toss aside the idea that we are interconnected, that we are interdependent, that we need each other. Since we don't actually know most people on the internet we don't care if we cut them deep with our comments. We don't care if we say hurtful things, shame them, make them feel bad. We are not face to face with them saying those things, watching their face fall, seeing the tears come, watching what we say and how we say it, how it affects someone. And because it is someone we don't know, we don't seem to care that they too are a human, that they have feelings and need to be handled with kindness.
I like to think about what Thumper's dad said in Bambie "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Think before you speak, give that person the befit of your compassion. We are all in this journey together, this human experience. We all need each other. Please the next time you decide to comment, remember... above all, be kind.