Casual Conversations & Friendly Banter

It was a difficult year for Anna as she had taken a gap year at the ripe age of 45 to pursue what had always been her calling. For years, having done just a job to support her family was weighing on her. Kids were growing up and finding their feet. The husband, as loving as he was, found it strange that she took such an abrupt decision to quit her job and 'sit at home'. Anyways the job was a remote one so he could not understand the fuss about not being able to do the usual hours and pursue whatever passion emerged, after work hours.

"You barely do much around the house anyways! If anything, your weight and progressively changing dress sizes indicate that certainly", he said in front of their common friends.
Everyone except Donna and Anna laughed. 

Kim was anxious about her school reunion. On the chat group, people were sharing how successful they were, one could see a few looked perfect too as if age seemed to have totally escaped them. Kim considered skipping it but her closest friends were going to be there and she would finally meet them after three whole decades! But what about the others? What if they thought she was a complete failure? 

Lina was anxious about the reunion too. For the world, she was a successful career woman, single and quite accomplished. However, she had been in and out of relationships. Having tried to have babies and losing them even before birth, she resigned to the fact that motherhood was not in her gift. On the chat group, pictures were shared by people of their children, their happy families and the many stories of a perfect family portrait. She was the odd one. She wouldn't fit in! 

Each one of us has a story. We all have our journeys that are perhaps not known to the others but are our critical paths. Feeling the way we are feeling, when we come in contact with casual conversations or 'loose talk' that could act as a trigger, it has the potential of setting an individual right back in that journey. 

Old friends are known to throw insults at their friends; an age old tradition almost that ought to be taken in a most casual way. But do these casual conversations remain that - casual? Do we consider for a moment at the very people in a certain conversation and moderate our statements? Arguably, if this was something that had to be done, then you would lose the very spontaneity of a friendly banter. 

So the big question here is: what then, is okay and what, is not okay?