We wonder why things are deteriorationg
I think our standards of respect for each other have slipped and slid and that is part of why drug abuse has become so acceptable as part of our culture.
Here is an example of my thinking:
I work in a professional office. Most of my professional level co workers are men. these are people with college degrees and titles and licenses to practice etc. I am one of the few women professionals here.
One of the common things to hear in this office are expletives. Most everyone works on a computer and that can get very frustrating. I know because I get frustrated.
however, i would say that it is common in any given hour of the day to hear "you B*st*ard! Sh*t! F**k! D*mn! S.O.B.! etc."
I would venture to say that 30 years ago even.. this was NOT acceptable language. Fact is, at the end of Gone With the Wind, when Rhett Butler says "Frankly my Dear, I don't give a Damn!" the swear word was almost cut and it shocked many people in the audience to have this word in the movie!!!
I know it is a simple thing but if this simple thing has slipped to where we cannot contain these words out of respect for others in an open office, what else has slipped as well?
Violent scenes on TV for sure.. scenes we expose our children to. Explicit sexual discussion and photos on TV sitcoms to many movies which we all now find acceptable that was not acceptable 30 years ago.
It used to be that parents did not use bad language in front of their kids and if their kids used bad language there were usually clear consequences for that behavior (I, for one, will never forget the taste of Dial Soap cakes!!!).. Again, this seems such a simple thing but self control and respect starts with the simple things.
I don't know your thoughts on this. Mine are that as society becomes less restrained and more permissive, the difference between right and wrong becomes muddied.
Today I sure do wish my coworkers would do one simple thing out of respect for themselves and each other.. and put the bad language on hold. I could complain and it would stop, but there are some battles you can win while losing the war overall.