Mockery

Today I found myself in a conversation about politics with a stranger--I try to avoid those, but I got sucked into it by a comment I'd made on a Facebook friend's link to an article. At the end of our conversation, which stayed amicable despite the other party's rather insulting style, I found out that the other person likes to go to a website that couches its opinions and commentary in a mocking way. I do not like mockery. I didn't like it as a girl when I was told my clothes were ugly followed by a laughing "Just kidding!", and I don't like it any better now. Mockery is a pride game, a way of saying "I'm so smart/awesome/pretty, and you're laughably not." There is humor, and then there is selfishly making fun of others, and I hope I can teach my children the difference in such a way that they will always opt for kind-hearted humor.