Living in the Age of Disrespect?

I’m not quite sure what’s happening these days. It seems the whole world has gone a bit bonkers. I’ve never seen so many people behave in such incredibly rude and unconscionable ways, especially in very public venues. As I said in a previous post, it’s as though “injure first, apologize later” is becoming second nature with many people.

I was taught to never hurt anyone deliberately. I was taught to respect my elders, my teachers, my parents and grandparents. I would never have dreamed of talking back to my parents, and yet, this is a normal thing for children to see these days on TV and video and something they seem to emulate.

Between Joe Wilson screaming “You Lie!” at President Obama, Serena Williams indicating her displeasure at a line judge’s call by offering to place her tennis ball where the sun doesn’t shine, and Kanye West rudely taking away a really special moment for a very talented and very young Taylor Swift, quite frankly, I’m not sure which behavior was the worst.

I would chalk up Serena and Kanye as youthful stupidity, but they’re hardly kids and both of them are old enough to know better. There is absolutely no excuse for Joe Wilson. He’s being paid to represent the people who voted him in, and if any of them have a half a brain, they’ll vote his butt out of office at the next election.

The only one of these three who seemed to actually be contrite and offer a sincere and believable apology was Kanye West. I watched him struggle with his guilt while talking with Jay Leno. If he wasn’t really sincere, then he deserves an Oscar.

In all of this, I have to say that Taylor Swift had incredible poise for someone so young. She impressed me, as did Beyoncé, who brought Taylor back on stage so she could give her acceptance speech without interruption…two very classy ladies!