Opinion Piece - Written by Name Withheld
With the holiday period I have had a lot of time to sit and think of what is happening in my life and the world around me. Due to the down time, I overthink many things, I have been pondering what has happened to the respect between people?
I was talking with some friends of mine and we had a similar conversation about the people of today. This is not aimed at any particular age group, just society as a whole. We all agreed that there has been a general decline in respect.
It seems to me that this is more than just in my tiny universe. We see it all the time when we are out at the shops, parents towards teachers, within in relationships and in the retail industry heavily.
One major one that comes to mind is politicians. They’re asked a question and answer the one they want to – who cares what was asked… If they’re caught in a corner, they use emotion because people get flustered by an emotional outburst. They lack the respect of giving the correct answer because they are afraid of the repercussions or that they will not get re-elected.
Respecting someone that you love, have loved, known for a while or only ever have one dealing with (retail sense) is not a hard thing to do. The meaning on the word respect is the due regard for the feelings, wishes, or rights of others. This doesn’t mean you need to be all PC and follow like a sheep. You are still allowed to have your own opinion but it doesn’t mean it is right for everyone.
What I take from this as the meaning is that you have some form of consideration for the person you are talking to or dealing with and not only have courtesy for them, but dignity for yourself.
The lack of respect shown to others is appalling and many people need to give themselves an uppercut for the way they treat another human being. The affect you have on someone else’s day or life with even only a minor interaction, don’t get me started on longer term relationships/friendships, can be catastrophic and it all comes down to respect.
I am sure there will be the opposers to what I am saying with that your own reactions are that of your own choosing (how you react is your choice). And while I might agree to some precent, if someone treated you with respect and you treated them the same, there would be no reason for someone to have to choose how they react as there will be no need.
I think if we all assumed each other were innocent until proven guilty, we’d approach interactions with respect, rather than name-calling or emotional outbursts. We’d solve a lot more problems that way. Of course communication is a major part of that too but that is for another time.
