don't act the fool. you gotta wonder about those people who think any attention is good attention, even if it's negative attention. people who voluntarily stick the "kick me" sign on their backs so that everyone will notice them. i've often wondered if there was something more than insecurity and need for attention going on with these people. and now i've discovered the other reason for this type of behavior. people who are willing to humiliate themselves for attention are martyrs, plain and simple. they make the ultimate sacrifice, their sense of self worth and dignity, in order to provide the group with a few cheap laughs. they are willing to suffer self esteem death in order to further their belief that being accepted is the key to happiness.



and so, if they can't get accepted for doing the right thing, it's only one step down to get invited along as comedic relief. as long as the victim understands that any love they're getting is of the backhanded variety, it's okay with me. but it's terrible if you're unsure if the person in question is unaware of how his gained his admittance. classic example being william hung. does he realize he's only popular because he's a laughing stock? or does he really think that he's popular based on his own merits? you have to wonder.



people who are willing to do stupid things just to get the spotlight on them are charter members of this club. i try to discourage any antics of the stupid variety but inevitably someone will egg the person on just to see if they''ll do it. "yeah yeah, jump off the cliff into the garbage truck! that would be awesome!" and then the person will do it just for some attention. even weirder is when this type of action actually gets them "in." and it becomes part of a group's folklore. "yeah, remember that time kevin jumped into a dump truck? that was so rad!"



i believe we should never reinforce this type of behavior. it's like picking on the weak, encouraging them to pile humiliation on top of themselves by reinforcing their behavior with laughs and "good job mans." but what if someone wants this type of attention? because it's better to have negative than nothing? then are we helping their sense of self worth by letting them continue on being stupid? do we let them continue being the mascot and the clown? i say no. if we had any sense of humanity, we should discourage this type of negative attention seeking. it's immature, childish, and will only blow up into bigger insecurities later on down the road.



and that is all i have to say about that.