As soon as the expletive rolled off my tongue, I slapped my hands over my mouth and said “Sorry.” Sheesh. Embarrassing.
Fortunately, the gentleman behind the desk grinned. He wasn’t offended. Still, irritated, having wasted time stopping at garage after garage along a stretch of highway I don’t know very well – in search of a mechanic to do some tweaking to my car – I shouldn’t have let the four-letter word slip out so easily.
Then a different word – decorum – came to mind. And it really came to mind when I caught the news later in the day.
In case you’re wondering, Dictionary.com defines decorum as:
dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress… the quality or state of being decorous, or exhibiting such dignified propriety; orderliness; regularity.
In other words… appropriate, respectful language and behavior. Easy, right?
Now, I will not pretend that I don’t curse. I try not to do it — some days I try harder than others — and I know I’m no angel when it comes to my more “colorful” self-expression. Nevertheless, I try to be appropriate and civil, even when I’m in an argument. I believe in manners. I believe in respect. I believe in decorum.
And these days, I believe in it even more than I used to, perhaps because it seems increasingly abandoned. That, no doubt a consequence of our coarsened communication style when it comes to politics.
What exactly has me fired up on this subject?
Like I said, several of yesterday’s news snippets.
I don’t like to hear our elected officials use phrases like “human scum” or for that matter, make egregious and outrageous use of a highly charged term like lynching with its very specific meaning. (I don’t like seeing you-know-who using expletives on Twitter either. And of course, the vitriol behind the sentiments is even worse.)
What’s more, I don’t especially like seeing members of Congress storming into a secured location in front of the cameras. My, my. Political theater at its… worst? Silliest? Most obvious? That isn’t decorum either.
Of course, shouldn’t decorum include saying adieu to fictionalizing and falsity, deception and duplicity, fact-free untruth, manic misrepresentations, lying by omission and bald-faced lying?
Besides, where does common sense come in? All of us, reading and processing more than our own point of view?
Listen, ridiculous behavior – yes, political theater – seems to be a bipartisan activity. But it’s exhausting. We all deserve better. We deserve better when it comes to appropriate, specific, and civil language. And likewise, a Just Say No approach to sophomoric stunts from the people we pay with our tax dollars. No matter who pulls those stunts.
I enjoy my political performance art in the form of late-night comedy or clever cartoons, thank you. I don’t like it in the men and women we put in office, and one individual in particular who has so lowered the bar in terms of atrocious actions and words (yes, my opinion) that my mandible is perpetually sore from the literal jaw-drop.
Given all that is taking place in the world these days, you might say this is focusing on the trees and not the forest. Some might even say that the forest is on fire! I think we can – and should – pay attention to both.
Incidentally, the gentleman I mentioned did schedule my vehicle for later this week. He was calm and polite and professional with me, clearly aware that I was tired, frustrated, and pressed for time trying to find a fix for my car. His pleasant demeanor encouraged my own; I smiled and said thank you. That’s decorum, too. Isn’t it preferable to the alternative?
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