Banter

Banter seems to be something that’s very common in mainstream culture. People have a lot of fun just insulting their friends. I constantly see Facebook posts which say things along the line of “If I don’t constantly insult you, it means I don’t like you” or “99% of my friendships are based on insults” and I find this really weird. Sure, people can do that if they want to, but to me it seems strange that this sort of behaviour is so prevalent and it seems even stranger that people think that ‘true’ friendship always comes along with insulting banter. I hate to say bad things about my friends and, in fact, usually just prefer to say nice things to them all the time. On a very, very rare occasions I’ll make a joke at somebody’s expense, but only when I am 100% sure that there’s no chance it will cause offense and I instantly clarify that it is just a joke too. When you’re constantly making jokes about someone, how can you be 100% sure every time?

I honestly don’t think that this prevalence of banter is all that healthy. How many people just go along with the laughs and insults, when really it’s hurting them very much? How many people will never articulate their feelings for fear of coming across as a “killjoy”? It’s a very strange phenomenon through my eyes and I am grateful that all of my friendships are built on friendliness and kindness.

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