Disrespect

I’m not sure where to go with this. But I’m having a problem with disrespect. I’ve seen so much of it lately. And so many times, there’s no reason for it.


Before the Super Bowl, Bill O’Reilly interviewed President Obama. During that interview, he asked the president how it felt to be hated by so many people. Three times he asked this. And he interrupted the president 42 times. Yes, 42! You know, I don’t care if you like the president or not. But he’s the president, and he deserves some measure of respect. It was just wrong to treat him like O'Reilly did. 


Toward the end of George Bush’s second term, a lot of people were calling him out, treating him with that same kind of disrespect. I have no probem with disagreeing with the president, and pointing out what one feels he’s doing wrong. That’s part of democracy. But this doesn’t have to be nasty, or sarcastic, or disrespectful.Yet many behaved that way, and that was just as disgusting.


I recently watched a very small man treat a very strong woman with disdain and disrespect. Her crime? She had the audacity to stand up to him, to be strong. Even if this small man disagrees with her, he has no right to ridicule her, scold her like she’s a child, or make faces when she speaks, (I’m not making this up!) Yet, he did. But of course, she’s only a woman. So I guess it's OK.


I personally faced it a few months back. I do my very best to be fair as a teacher, and I think I have that reputation. Yet when some favored student didn’t get the grade needed, the people who should have been supporting me, turned on me. I can live with that, but the things they said, and the disrespect they showed, astounded me. I really think I’ve earned more respect than that. But apparently not.


Maybe it’s always been this way, and I’ve just never noticed it. But I don’t know about that. Maybe it’s because our political dialog is so nasty, on all sides, that respect is no longer in vogue. Or maybe as America becomes more and more secular, with less and less attending church, this is the logical outcome. Like I said, I just don’t know.


To be honest, I see some of this in myself, and I don’t like it when I see it either. When I ask myself why I do that, I think it’s because by showing them disrespect, putting them down, I build myself up in my own eyes. I hate to admit that, but I think it’s accurate. I can only assume it describes other disrespectful people as well. But once again, I just don’t know.


But what really bothers me is not just the disrespect. No, what bothers me is that we now accept it, just let it go, let the disrespected person suffer on his or her own. How many times do we just watch as it happens? Way too often, unfortunately. I’ve seen it way too often.


And I don’t see how that can be a good thing.