Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1460IR // #c1460Verbatim excerpt
seated in chairs, as in a garden of public diversion, are a number of women, busily knitting

— Source: A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)

[Use when]

Colleagues gather in the breakroom to cheer a rival's public firing. Walk out of the room and refuse to join the laugh.

[Why it matters]

Ordinary neighbors can watch people get ruined over lunch. Once a crowd turns vengeance into a hobby, mercy looks like treason. Bystanders trade their human decency for a front-row seat.

Filed under situations:When your picture of things might be wrong

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