The thinner the ice, the more anxious is everyone to see whether it will bear.

Fragile things draw a crowd. When a plan or a person looks close to giving way, people gather to watch, and their curiosity is not the same as care. Some of it is honest worry, and some of it is the pull of seeing how a thing ends. Whoever is out on the ice feels all that attention, which makes a hard crossing harder.

Notice which side of this you are on. If someone near you is in a thin patch, ask whether you are helping or only interested, and let the answer shape what you say. If you are the one crossing, you get to choose who watches.