The Germans, of course, have a word for feeling awkward on behalf of another person. The word is Fremdschämen. Much like schadenfreude, “fremdschämen” is all about something bad happening to other people. The simple pleasures in life are the most important. Laughing at other people’s pain is one of those pleasures.
Here are people who said and did something so awkward in 2020, they had to share it with the world: