R-E-S-P-E-C-T

"Kids these days just don't have any respect…" I hear this all to often, and now that I am getting older, find myself uttering these words. My response (which I cut short by biting my tongue) is, don't blame the kids, blame the parents. They raised them this way.

The reality is, we live in a culture of disrespect. We see it all the time in pop-culture and the media. Men are users and women are objects. Or, Women have to deal with male incompetence, i.e. women are intellectually and emotionally superior to men. We could talk about ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or anything else that we could use to classify human beings. If you take a good hard look, no one really respects anyone else. Ok, maybe not entirely, but as a society, we 21st Century Americans have trouble respecting people, especially those we dislike.

I remember just starting college and getting to hang out with the professors. (My work-study soon turned into a 3/4 time position and I got to canoodle with the faculty at lunch and social events.) Coming from a "conservative" home, it really bothered me how little respect the faculty would give then President Bush. I can handle satire and jokes, but they were down right mean.

Fast-forward eight years when Obama wins the presidential election and "conservatives" are more venomous of Obama than the liberals were of Bush. I heard time and again, "he's not MY president."

My father-in-law told me a story of one of his friends in the FBI. This guy was assigned to security during the Democrat National Convention. He purportedly said, "if Obama is attacked, do I actually have to do anything?"

I hear rumblings of assassination being a "patriotic duty."

The crazy thing is, I hear the VERY PEOPLE saying, "kids these days," being extremely disrespectful towards dully elected officials and leaders of every kind. We can disagree without being disrespectful.

I know it's possible. My parents loved Reagan and the first Bush and I remember them being critical of Clinton, but never disrespectful.

So think about what you say and how you say it. Just because they said bad stuff about your guy doesn't mean you have to say bad stuff about theirs. Next time you say "kids these days…" think about what kind of example you are setting. If you are one of these kids, think about what you say. Regardless of your age, be respectful. God knows we don't show enough respect in any area of our lives.

Oh, and for the Secret Service who just read this, peace and blessings to you as well as our nations leaders.