I'd like to talk about a question I'm still revisiting (every now and then). It was a question from my foreign coworker, about typical Japanese behaviour at a scene where a friend needed care (concern) instead of laughter(ridicule). He said he was with some girls the other day and they made fun of him after watching him accidentally trip over something. He was expecting kind words, but instead was shocked to receive inconsiderate reactions from them. On coming back to the office, he asked me if it was a normal response for Japanese people to show in such a situation. The first thing that came to mind about Japanese characteristics was politeness, but it did not match the situation he described. It was rather mean of those girls to laugh at his predicament. Next I recalled an article about the difference between American and Japanese comedy. It said that the former betrays the expectation of the audience and the latter meets it. For example, a Japanese comedian slips on the obvious banana peel, while an American does something different with it. Whether the theory is true or not, it did not seem applicable to my coworker's suffering apart from the superficial similarity of stumbling. I didn't come up with a good one, so ended up giving him a boring, general answer that it depends on people; some are nice, others maybe not. He seemingly agreed, saying it was a matter of nature or nurture after all. In the meantime, I was picturing giggling students behind someone's back in highschool. I feel such behaviour is often seen in Japan. The conversation has ended and he isn't here anymore. A few sentences were a little long imo. They read better when you split them into shorter sentences. Some suggestions in brackets.