Is that behaviour really something we will stand by and watch?

So today I saw a tweet from a friend of ours, who was openly bullied in a well known coffee chain for the way that she looked.  

It was not some subtle bullying, it was upfront and out there in front of all the members of staff and other customers.  These people - and I use the word loosely - decided that they had the right to deliberately move to sit next to a person and snicker and laugh at them, before saying some truly hateful and hurtful things while attempting to poke at them.

The real clincher here is that not a single solitary person stepped up to let these bullies know that this behaviour is not acceptable!, and lets be clear - it is not.  There is never an excuse to treat a person in this manner.  NEVER.  Do people look different - yes.  Can that make you uncomfortable, yes.   Does this give you the right to turn your discomfort around to make an individual feel that they are unwelcome or unworthy? NO

You have no idea what a person is going through/has been through and what they are working on.  It is in no way acceptable to show this kind of behaviour, and it is equally unacceptable for us to stand by and let this happen.  There is a huge focus right now on bullying online, but this focus also needs to be on what happens out there in the big wide world.  If you see someone being bullied then I firmly believe that it is your duty to support the person who is being bullied.  If you don't feel comfortable confronting the bullies then check that the other person is ok, complain to the members of staff if you are in the store, do something!