To still be angry and embarrassed that this woman laughed at me?

[thelouise]

This morning, it was pouring down here and so the floor in my local shop was a bit slippery. I walk with crutches due to a disability and I am unsteady on my feet at the best of times. Unfortunately for me, I went arse over tit. Falling over is usually a humiliating experience because I can't get myself up. As I fell, I caught the eye of a woman who bloody laughed at me. Who does that?! In the interests of full disclose, she did walk towards me, presumably to check I was ok, but by that time, someone had come to my aid.

I am still feeling sore, both physically and emotionally. I phoned my mum (even though I am 37 ) who thinks I'm being silly to feel angry, especially when two lovely men helped me up, found me a chair, got me a drink and then walked me to my cry.

AIBU to still feel mortified and angry or, in the words of Elsa, do I need to let it go?

Do you think it could have been a nervous reaction?

She is a bitch. Whereas you had two lovely men look after you.

Oh gosh sorry to hear you fell :( could it be that she felt awkward/wanted to make you feel less embarrassed by "laughing along with you" and then realised you weren't laughing and felt like a prize nugget?

Or possibly she's just a dickhead. Either way YANBU to be hurt but some people are just like that :(

Hope you're feeling less sore soon and try to focus on the lovely people that helped

You poor love, what a nightmare.

She is probably just one of those people who laughs when worrying things happen. She was coming to help.

Being laughed at is rotten though.

I think you are being silly to take it personally. It will have been a totally involuntary reaction. Unfortunately there is something comedic about people falling over. She won't have been laughing at you or glad that you fell or anything and she probably feels awful about it.
Hope you didn't hurt yourself.

Some people laugh when they're afraid or nervous. Hopefully she laughed for one of these reasons and not at your fall. I hope you're ok.

I laugh as a nervous reaction, but then I would be apologising, explaining that is it a reaction I get to shock and be helping pick you up or getting someone to help.

I actually think those horrible programs where we are supposed to laugh at other people's misfortunes are a bit to blame. It's a natural urge but why do we encourage it?

Yup I am one of those people (it wasn't me I assure you as I haven't left the house today) I cant help but laugh first. Completely nervous reaction. I always ALWAYS go and help though and in your situation would have felt the need to apologise profusely x I'm sure she didn't mean it.

I fell over at work, fell over a pile of baskets that hadn't been put away. They had to find it on the cctv to put it in the book and they said they couldn't stop watching it . Nobody asked how I was and now 2 months later my knee still isn't right.

I had a friend years ago who used to laugh whenever anything bad happened. He hated it and felt awful about it. He also ended up avoiding people if they lost someone, in case he laughed.

He was a lovely person, he just couldn't help himself.

May be she was the same?

Maybe she is a bitch. Personally if I was you I would assume she wasn't a bitch. Only for my own sanity.

I am sorry this happened to you. Hope you feel better soon.

i laugh too it's involuntary so i laugh and run away which kind of makes life worse really unfortunately my dd has inherited that trait she was two and an old lady slipped on the ice in front of us i managed to control it but she pised herself laughing and pointed at her saying again again (fucking teletubbies) i went a different way into town that day fortunately she had a lot of people looking after her

I'm so sorry but my first involuntary reaction is to laugh when someone falls over. It's not a nice trait but I can't help it. I hope you're OK after your fall. I'm sure she feels terrible for laughing.

Yeah, it probably was a nervous reaction. It just made me feel a bit shit. :( I'm sure it's more about my insecurities, than her laugh.

Even if a nervous reaction, she should have controlled herself. No need for you to feel bad, you just encountered an asshole.

bubble some people can't control it. That's the issue

If it was a nervous reaction, then she's probably also still feeling angry (at herself) and embarrassed, and guilty for possibly hurting your feelings. Horrible situation. I hope the fall didn't hurt too.

thelouise, horrible, even if she didn't mean it, I hope you're OK

That said there are clearly a lot of people who do laugh when something awful happens and I hate to say I'm one of them. I can still remember when we were at school and it was announced that a classmate had died very suddenly (we were 12 so it was a HORRIFIC thing to happen) and I laughed

I still feel awful every time I think of it. I have no idea why it happened and I've rarely done it since, I think I've deliberately trained myself out of it as it was SO awful at that moment.

I second that it may well have been an involuntary reaction. Poor you though.

Even if a nervous reaction, she should have controlled herself

Its akin to a tic

Whilst I was at work I once slipped and fell on the ward and the patient in front of me laughed, she came up to me and apologised saying it was a nervous reaction in the heat of the moment, and she gave me no reason to believe otherwise.

Oh dear, I hope you are ok now I imagine it was a nervous thing, like others have said. My lovely friend is the same, she wishes so dearly that she wasn't but whenever something bad/shocking happens or when she hears bad news she giggles. I'm the total opposite and I end up in tears. A different friend dislocated her knee and everyone came to my aid, thinking it was me that was hurt, because I couldn't control my tears.
Try not to focus on her reaction. What the men did was lovely and the main thing is that there is not lasting physical damage to you, be kind to yourself.

I can sympathise, I like you, fall a lot, especially now a lot of shops no longer have carpets and I find myself slipping even more in wet weather.

I don't have any coping advice but can offer sympathy and say that the number of people who will help and support you when you fall or are ill in public far outweighs the number who laugh/make snide comments/be rude (for whatever reason). There's no way to know who will or will not be helpful so try and think it's far more likely someone will help (I know that's much easier said than done as I struggle to believe that myself at times).

I've never understood people laughing at others getting hurt. It just seems a bit weird to me. Hope you're ok x

Hope you're ok now OP.

I'm quite surprised at the amount of people saying they would laugh. You really can't learn not to do that? Really?