Our tolerance for everything has produced an unwillingness to restrict anything.
I have no idea where I stole that from or when I stole it, but I do know that it certainly strikes a chord for me. As I am prone to do, when I encounter a news article, a quotation, or a picture that intrigues me, I cut it out and put it into a file--might sound boring, I realize, but from time to time I encounter situations that trigger a response connecting to one of those cutouts. Today I am sharing one that relates to many situations alive and well in our society.
With each passing month, I suppose my resistance to change lessens just a bit. My occasional "anal-retentive" drive to do so much the right way occasionally shrinks to a "so what" approach. Desiring to follow a set routine marked by a daily to-do list is more frequently reduced to an "I'll do it tomorrow" approach. People tell me I have earned the right to do so, yet I remain somewhat unconvinced. I have routines that I enjoy because they provide me satisfaction at day's end, so forcing me to break away is sometimes a struggle. In short, I do not "tolerate" change simply for change's sake. What I am observing, though, is that it often is easier to simply surrender and accept . . . a task I find difficult to do.
The world is whizzing by faster than I sometimes can understand. Morals, styles, laws--so much, so fast--frequently leave me shaking my head in amazement and often amusement. Do we say "whoa" to anything, or do we just accept the world as it is changing?
As I am writing and re-reading my words, I sense that I am sounding like an old codger saying that the world is going to hell. In truth, I am struggling this afternoon trying to make my point. Perhaps it would be better if I just dropped the lead-in and got to my focus:
*We accept swearing in so many diverse situations that it almost seems natural to hear what many may consider offensive; in particular, the "f-bomb" is treated like an acceptable word; trust me when I tell you that I am no angel, but I do understand parameters of what is and what is not acceptable. However, our guards have dropped, and that is life today.
*We accept a society where we find it perfectly acceptable to criticize our country's leaders; in a time where we desire cohesion and loyalty, we instead feel so free--thanks to the ease of social media--to blatantly criticize, ridicule, and demean those same people who were elected to represent us. Our guards have dropped, and that is life today.
*We accept the bandwagon jumping that goes along with people's criticism of police, and we are so often guilty of following the loudest critic in the room--whether that voice has any logic to it or not. Our guards have dropped, and that is life today.
*We accept that public decorum is left to the individual rather than what is acceptable to others; wearing pants way low in the back, showing as much skin as possible, . . . the list goes on. To say something, of course, is considered by many to be an act of invasion, so we just go about our way. Our guards have dropped, and that is life today.
*We accept the apathy toward the English language, considering it to be no big deal that our writing skills are deteriorating at a rapid pace. Our guards have dropped, and that is life today.
*We accept that walking with headsets on limits conversation with others in a world where interaction is needed more than ever. Eye contact and personal conversation suffer . . . , and we often wonder why. Our guards have dropped, and that is life today.
*We accept that eating in a restaurant or even in our homes has no bearing on whether we are checking our cell phone or interrupting conversation . . . the "so what" attitude seems to prevail. Our guards have dropped, and that is life today.
More examples could certainly be provided, but the snowball rolling down the hill analogy seems to fit. Because of our almost-blind acceptance of practically all behavior, I sense an unwillingness to restrict much of anything. At what point do we step up and say, "Enough!" It is so easy for us to criticize, yet it is so hard to actually combat deteriorating behaviors. Certainly, I am not advocating physical confrontation, but I am stressing that if we--the adults--do not occasionally point out flaws, this tolerance will continue to worsen . . . and that, my friends, scares the hell out of me.
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