Sadly, it's normal. It's also rude if it's done purely for oneupmanship. Sometimes people just genuinely want to commiserate, but other times it's obvious that Person B just used Person A's problems as an excuse to air his or her own. Ugh, everyone hates Person B, but there are just so many Person Bs around.
Every once in a while, it's a little tempting to be Person B yourself. If you read an IIN post about someone crying over a broken phone when your house just got destroyed in a tornado, you might talk about it as a way of saying, "Hey, don't feel too awful; it could be a *lot* worse." I think that's understandable, and it usually doesn't come across as obnoxious one-upping.
The assholes who compete for the most miserable story and minimize everyone else's, though...yeah, they are awful. I totally agree with you on that.
Is it normal to belittle other's problems?
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Sadly, it's normal. It's also rude if it's done purely for oneupmanship. Sometimes people just genuinely want to commiserate, but other times it's obvious that Person B just used Person A's problems as an excuse to air his or her own. Ugh, everyone hates Person B, but there are just so many Person Bs around.
Every once in a while, it's a little tempting to be Person B yourself. If you read an IIN post about someone crying over a broken phone when your house just got destroyed in a tornado, you might talk about it as a way of saying, "Hey, don't feel too awful; it could be a *lot* worse." I think that's understandable, and it usually doesn't come across as obnoxious one-upping.
The assholes who compete for the most miserable story and minimize everyone else's, though...yeah, they are awful. I totally agree with you on that.