In my never-ending quest to see just how silly our society has become or will soon become; the following comes to my attention.

It now seems that we are advised to be careful what and how we say things to other people for fear of ‘triggering’ them in one form or fashion.

I am somewhat perplexed at this current concept as I don’t really understand how this can be at all possible.

We have a neighborhood website where folks that live around us can discuss such things as lost pets, speeding cars, recommendations on household repair men, restaurants etc.

We have now been advised that our miscellaneous postings are subject to be ‘reviewed’ by someone (?) who can then make a decision as to whether or not these should or should not be posted to those who subscribe to the app.

Now we all know that discussions concerning religion or politics have been verboten for many years. We don’t discuss these at family gatherings without incurring severe penalties. The last time either of those topics were discussed in mixed family company was when I was 6 or 7 years old. A long time ago.

When was the last time for you?

Look at the way our humor has evolved over the past years.

Television programs and movies that poked fun at our differences are no longer acceptable since the content might ‘trigger’ someone and hurt their feelings. We used to be able to laugh at our differences and not get offended by the slightest comment, didn’t we?

About the only place we can discuss our true feelings these days is with our respective spouses in the privacy of our own homes.

How much longer will we be able to do this, is anyone’s guess.

We have several devices in our house (as I am certain you do as well) that ‘listen’ for certain key words and phrases for marketing purposes.

If I am talking to one of my sons about a Porsche he likes or is interested in buying, I will receive a ton of emails and postings on social media about deals on Porsches. So if they can hear my conversation and then try to sell my something, then how long will it be before the ‘culture’  or the ‘political correct’ police come to knock on my door to discuss the argument my wife and I had over some political candidate? 

Somewhere along the way our society has become very thin skinned and everyone seems to be walking around on eggshells with a chip on their shoulders. We cannot even laugh at certain cartoons now without someone getting offended by reading between the lines and making some generalizations that really never exists.

I feel it is only a matter of time before the coyote and the road runner are banned since someone is sure to be offended by the coyotes use of Acme explosives. Or perhaps someone thinks harming a road runner is cruel.

 It’s a cartoon…. Tom chased Jerry, but never caught him, did he?

As you may know I love history and went back to college to get my Masters in History at age 75.

Our history is evolving and we learn from our successes as well as our failures, don’t we?

In my humble opinion, ignorance is the chief destroyer of progress.

Years ago, when I was a kid, we had a Down’s syndrome kid living down the block from us. We were scared to talk to him or interact with him. I can recall people laughing (not us) at someone with MS…Not anymore. We defend them. We have made progress through our mistakes. This is a positive thing for all of us, isn’t it?

We are in the midst of a great divide in this country at this time and we need to step back and look at the similarities we have in common with our fellow Americans instead of focusing upon the differences we have. This is a civilized country and we need to act as civil as we can toward one another without violence, name calling and personal attacks.

I will never learn what your point of view is or your opinion if you are yelling at me.

You certainly have the right to your opinion, but then again so do I.

Unless I hear you and you hear me and we view a problem as objectively as possible together, then how can we ever solve the issue? We may very well continue to disagree, but can we not remain friends with different points of view and opinions?

Like I told a former partner of mine, life is not strictly black and white, it is mostly gray.

Lighten up. Laugh and listen.

See you next week….

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