An Act of Spites

 

The noise emanating from the playground, a  small square of concrete filled with shouting, screaming,  yelling little people, was loud and raucous.

To the casual observer it would appear that each and every child was happily engaged in some sort of rewarding interaction with his comrades.  But that would be to overlook the dark corners, because it is a sad fact of life that even in the very young, pain and  humiliation lurk.  We learn early to be cruel, to throw the first blow before we ourselves can be hurt.  

At this age, it is not about sticks and stones, nor dragging your adversary to the ground and pummelling his back.  It’s about what we can do without the need for  our scarcely grown  physical strength.  Anyone blessed with a few inches or pounds extra from that of the pack can certainly throw his weight around.  But it is he who has the quickest eye and the sharpest tongue who throws the deadliest dart.  An all encompassing glance taking in the hand-me down trousers, the lisp, the NHS glasses perhaps, the overly timid demeanour, small acts of pure spite will follow designed to reduce the standing and the confidence of the victim.  

Spite is the worst of all human weaknesses.  It is small, cowardly and always vindictive.  Often referred to as bullying,  it is something altogether different.   It is an act of vengeance  for some slight, imagined or otherwise.   In the child it can manifest itself in a vicious, waspish pinch, all the child’s frustrations being concentrated between finger and thumb, or even a furtive bite,  both bent on causing maximum pain.  

Fortunately, the majority of us grow out of this overly simplistic form of pay-back.   We mostly grow up to be kind and responsible human beings without much need for spite.   However, the relatively recent phenomonum  of social media has sadly gifted an outlet for this reprehensible human trait.   The urge to pinch and bite now manifests itself  through a keyboard which can afford the opportunity to rubbish the thoughts of others with the same degree of  poison as the sly pulling of pigtails or kicking of shins.   

Kindness is the antithesis of spite and its kindness the world needs now, and needs in abundance.