Perhaps a little empathy is in order.

"The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can tolerate."
- Douglas Englebart

"I have learned that there is a certain character to be built from embarrassing yourself endlessly.  If you can sit happily with embarrassment there's not much else that can get to you."
- Christian Bale

"Keep moving people....there's nothing to see here...."
- Grandma Bean

I've been reading a lot in the paper these days about the Mayor of Toronto and certain videos and pictures that are surfacing and it made me think three things:

1.)    Here's a man in serious need of help and I hope he gets it.
2.)    He needs to get new friends.
3.).   I'm glad there was no such thing as cell phone cameras back in the day when I was doing embarrassing things.

I have made a list of a few things that I'm glad were not caught on camera:

The time I lost my temper and threw a set of keys across the room, leaving a key-shaped impression in my kitchen wall.

The time I lost my temper and slammed open the bedroom door leaving a door-knob shaped impression in the bedroom wall.  (Anyone see a pattern here?)

The time I tucked an umbrella under my right arm, then glanced to my right and glimpsed the umbrella shape, thought someone was standing next to me, fell over backwards and left a Carole-shaped impression in the hallway wall.

The time I got very drunk at a party when I was young (but old enough to know better) and threw up behind the Juniper bush in my friends back-yard.

The time I accidentally hopped into the wrong car when I was waiting to be picked up, latched the seat belt and sat ready to be transported and didn't clue in until I heard, "Um.....excuse me Ma'am" from the complete stranger sitting in the drivers seat.

The time I was in labor with my first child and things weren't progressing after 12 hours of exhausting contractions and the doctor came in at midnight and told me if I hadn't delivered by morning they would consider a C-Section and I grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled his face down to mine and and yelled, "I'LL BE DEAD BY MORNING!!!"

The time I got sick at work and almost passed out after standing too long doing a procedure and my friends rushed me into the trauma room and yelled for the ER doctor and he came running over and started to examine me and I let out a flatus the size of a small child in front of everyone.

So I guess what I'm saying is, we are all just a cell phone camera click away from total and complete embarrassment.  Perhaps a little empathy is in order.

xoxo,