The current bunch of thin skinned gamers in the Congress and White House have insisted on “civility”. Then why can’t they do it themselves? I mean I love to collect hypocrisy, but the very idea that Washington even knows the word “civility”, let alone able to practice it, is beyond ludicrous.
I have had to memorize 3 Shakespeare plays, as well as about 20 other stage plays. Now, memorizing Shakespeare is like herpes: once you do it, it never goes away. What I can’t understand is if I can do that why can’t the average person memorize things like “Excuse me”, “Thank you” and “You’re welcome.” If someone says to you, “Thank you”, you say, “You’re welcome.” You don’t say, “Okay”, and you certainly don’t say “Aiiight.” That’s not a word and it means nothing.
Now these are very simple things. Civility is a lost art and when someone runs into me and they don’t say, “Excuse me”, I go and make them.
All that being said the current bunch of thin skinned gamers in the Congress and White House have insisted on “civility”. Then why can’t they do it themselves? I mean I love to collect hypocrisy, but the very idea that Washington even knows the word “civility”, let alone able to practice it, is beyond ludicrous.
I’ve said this many times and I’ll do it again: If you offend a Conservative he will give you chapter and verse on why he thinks as he does. If you offend a Liberal they will ask, “Who’s your supervisor?” If you have no real beliefs and have to resort to silencing or name-calling don’t even pretend to talk about civility.
But, to be fair, this goes deeper than politics. This country has been suffering an astounding decline in simple manners ever since the death of the family unit. And please don’t play semantics with me by calling it a “redefinition” of the family.
Dead is dead. It is not a redefinition of life.
But as we literally crawl towards the destruction of our culture in this country, it begs the question: How did this all start and why did we allow it to happen?
Answer: spinelessness.
Today I go out of my way to compliment someone. If someone wants to sue me for sexual harassment, go for it. You can’t get blood from a stone, and if you’re that weak get therapy.
Now don’t get me wrong. I can almost always be accused of being negative. But there is a reason for it and it is that I want things to change. I need to be proven wrong. The human immune system will be weak if it is not challenged.
As far as I’m concerned being deemed a cynic is a good thing. I choose to call it realism. At any rate, when you’re a so-called cynic you can’t lose. If you’re right, you are affirmed. If you’re wrong, the world is a better place.
So, folks, we best get right with ourselves because, believe me, we are heading for hard times. Simple courtesy can’t hurt. But if you don’t really mean it….
Andrew T.Durham is a graduate of State University at Albany, with a degree in Psychology/Philosophy. In the late 80's to mid 90's he was instrumental in creating ground-breaking outreach/prevention programs, as well as being a highly successful public speaker. A former acupuncturist and clinician (primarily to inner city adolescents), he has also been a consultant to the Massachusetts State Department of Public Health and several non-profit organizations. He is an accomplished musician - proficient in 7 instruments - ,actor and author of 10 plays, 5 of which have been produced. He is currently a consultant for small non-profit agencies and lives in Rochester, NY
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