When the conversation turns into a roast of someone who isn’t there, leave before you’re the next course.

How people speak about the absent is a preview of how they will speak about you. Joining in buys a moment of belonging and shows everyone present exactly what this group does with a person who steps out of the room. The safety you feel in that circle is conditional, and you have just watched the conditions.

When a conversation turns that way, go quiet, change the subject, or find a reason to be elsewhere. No speech about it is required. Being unavailable for it tends to get noticed without being announced.