When Did Being PC Usurp Being Polite?
I
looked at the article for some time…like someone would who could not
process what they were seeing, reading; like somehow, part of the brain I
needed for comprehension had no past reference to assist in this task.
Being
polite. We are all human. We are all ladies or gentlemen, despite how
we happen to see ourselves in the mirror, are we not?
Caitlyn Jenner is a lady, right?
George Michael was a gentleman, was he not?
If you offer a polite salutation now, somehow, this is offensive?
And
as far as I know, no matter what we call ourselves or how we identify
sexually, we are still human, and to date, can, and should desire to, be
civil?
Or
is our world pushing away all modes of civility to make way for the
preferred notion of PCing all of us into unidentifiable robots? Like,
somehow, to identify as anything is offensive in and of itself.
I
am not trying to sound like an asshole here (but to some, I’m sure I
do)but from where I’m sitting, society is close to hitting a reasoned
tipping point.
I get it, to an extent…
We gave up gloves.
We gave up hats.
We gave up dressing for dinner.
Heck, we gave up our dining room tables on which to have dinner.
But why do we have to stop being polite?
Why?
And why is every living thing now considered offensive to someone?
When,
as a species, did we lose our maturity? Our rational thought? Our
ability to discern? Our ability to see that not every little thing is
about Us, meant to offend Us?
I’m seriously void of all understanding on this.
I
was okay with dropping gloves. You can’t pick up anything with them and
all they do is get dirty, and require copious amounts of bleach to
return to their day glove-wearing glory.
I look hideous in hats so that was a social custom I could easy cast aside.
At
one point, I did dress for dinner to please my parents, but sadly, they
are both gone now, so my dining room table stands silent in a rather
vacant room, more often polished to remove dust than finger prints, and
more lovingly gazed upon as an archaeological exhibit.
But at 53, I am not ready to stop being polite.
One world.
One human species.
Despite all attempts at current scientific experiments, just two sexes, no matter which you choose to view in your mirror.
And
the societal notion that if such persons are sitting in a commuter
train, and not going all Dirty Harry.45 calibre on each other, they are,
by definition, Ladies & Gentlemen.
~~~
I’m
sure the time is soon approaching when the younger generations look
upon my generation with disgust, that what we grew up thinking was
civility, could never pass for said today.
But
as far as I know, I still have a few years left on Mother Earth, and
I’d like to hear once and a while pleasant salutations, just to refine
my day so I can assume not all Good is lost in this world in the name of
homogeneous nothingness.
Can
we all just step away from the hysteria bridge long enough not to
become jumpers and consider for a moment that regarding others with
respect has absolutely nothing to do with sexual orientation?
Can we? Can we just?
Please tell me we can.
If
we cannot, I’m told there’s a banana peel to 6 feet under with my name
on it somewhere in the future. I’ll go look for it sooner rather than
later. I’m hungry anyways…
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