Our Viewpoint: Reality check for how you make people feel

When you work for any sizable company or are in a government position, you get sensitivity and harassment training. Lessons of how your actions and words affect other people are prevalent.

Lately we are bombarded of allegations of misconduct by celebrities and politicians. It might feel like overkill. When will it stop? How far back does it matter when these events took place? Many of these incidents happened decades ago, perhaps when the standards for behavior were different. Should people be apologizing for behavior that happened when they were much younger and when social norms were different?

We keep going back to those lessons our moms taught us about how what you do affects other people. It’s not about what you say, what you do or how you act. It’s about how you make people feel, and how your messages, verbal and physical, are perceived. Just as it’s hard to convey tone or feeling through text messages and social media, you have to remember that your audience may not feel the same way about your actions or words.

The choices you make, good or bad, affect you for the rest of your life. It doesn’t matter if it’s right or wrong. We like to apply the mom test. Before you say or do something that may be perceived differently, think about whether your mom would approve if she was there. It might save you years down the road when you’re a politician or a famous actor.