Reason #4

I've been relating on other blog entries that civility appears to be on the way out the window, and today, I learned of a disturbing incident at one of the schools I work at which may lend credence to that observation. A driving encounter (a parking "misunderstanding") between the mother of one of our Pre-K students and the mother of an older student turned into sort of a road rage incident, and both mothers got into a verbal confrontation in the front office at school. In front of staff, other parents who were checking in to help with Halloween parties, and kids, these mothers engaged in yelling at each other complete with f-bombs, and even had some physical contact. The principal became involved, separating the two mothers. Both mothers called 911 on their cells. The police came, took reports, and interviewed witnesses. A nice afternoon turned into an ugly mess. I hope these moms are proud of themselves. I am livid that my workplace, a place that we teach is a SAFE place for our children to be, was used for such a despicable purpose between two grown women who were fighting over a PARKING PLACE.

This terrible incident leads us very nicely to the 4th reason author Lynne Truss would like to stay home and bolt the door: "The Universal Eff-Off Reflex". Truss says she's really not surprised by the proclivity of the people in our culture to believe "I have a right to do X", and, "I am beyond censure from you when I do X". And yes, as much as we don't want to do this, we certainly should look at television as a thermometer of what is acceptable. Verbal abuse is the norm in reality shows. Truss says, "People being vulgar and rude to each other in contrived, stressful situations is TV's bread and butter. The message and content of a vast amount of popular television can be summed up in the words, 'Eff-Off' "!

We're all touched by it. The question is, what can we do about it?