One More Kick
Some people donβt carry your load. They add to it.
Some people kick others while theyβre down.
Others do something harder to identify.
They offer a hand.
At least, thatβs how it appears at first.
They make promises they never intend to keep. They create possibilities they have no intention of following through on. They pull someone into plans, conversations, or commitments that require time, money, energy, and emotional investment.
Under normal circumstances, it would be an inconvenience.
But circumstances are rarely equal.
Most people can look at someoneβs life and recognize when they are already carrying enough. They understand that a person dealing with grief, isolation, legalities, separation, loss, or other major struggles does not need additional complications. Basic human decency tends to produce one of two responses: help if you can, or step aside and let them breathe.
Yet there are people who seem drawn to the opposite instinct.
They enter the situation not to relieve pressure, but to add to it.
What makes this behavior difficult to recognize is that it often arrives disguised as kindness. There is no obvious hostility. No direct confrontation. Instead, there are invitations, promises, opportunities, and plans. The target begins rearranging their schedule, spending money, asking questions, making preparations, and trying to make things work.
Meanwhile, the person who initiated it watches the confusion unfold.
Whether the motivation is carelessness, selfishness, a need for attention, or something darker, the result is the same: someone already struggling is left carrying a burden they never needed to pick up.
Not all harm comes from open cruelty.
Sometimes it comes from people who see a person drowning and decide that this is
the perfect moment to hand them something else to carry.
Some people see a rolling barrel and help steady it.
Others canβt resist giving it one more kick just to see how far it falls.
