The Concept of Respect

The economy these days has a lot of people on edge.   Families are struggling to put food on the table and it seems that no matter where you turn, there are vicious verbal attacks being undertaken against a variety of different groups.   Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, regardless of what that opinion is about.   It is our duty as humans to convey this opinion to others in such a way that it does not offend them.  At the same time however, we must also keep an open mind and be able to listen to other's opinions without being immediately thrown on the defensive and retaliating.  Now there is a little history behind this post that stemmed from yesterday.   It all started yesterday morning on the radio with 99.1 WPLR when they had our wonderful Governor Malloy on.  They asked for the listeners to call in with questions or to post them on Facebook.  I threw a couple of ideas out there, (I did also throw a little sarcasm in about his public speaking ability, not the nicest, but I got caught up in it.)   What amazed me the most is how people get so uptight and defensive on Facebook and will not hesitate to throw out profanities or the possibility of lynching.  I mean, come on, you may not like what the governor is doing (I don't), but it doesn't give people the right to degrade him (although I guess I did a little of that, go ahead, slap me).   Beyond simply degrading people, there seems to be an inability for people to maintain an open mind.  If the governor can justify everything that he is doing to me and show me how it will work, then I will listen, but amidst all the clamour of other callous voices, it is hard to hear the reasoning.  During the Facebook posting frenzy, someone whom I will not name here, decided to pick up on one of my comments that suggested that state employees pay more into their pension and health benefits (amidst taxing the wealthy and adhering to an ideal of fiscal responsibility),  and call me a loser.  And I quote,  "Whatever alex we gave back a lot with gov rell so think about what you say,"  immediately followed by, "We are taxpayers as well loser."   So me being who I am, I attempted to engage him in a conversation and the best he could come back with was a reiteration that "we are taxpayers as well"  and an added bonus of calling me a dumb ass.  This is the exact problem that we are running into when those at the government level as well as individuals across the board try to have discussions.  Inevitably, one group will pick up on even the smallest word that they feel is an afront to them and immediately dig in their heals and refuse to consider anything further.  We must all listen attentively to others.  Could my opinions be altered?  Absolutely.  Within that last week or so, they were altered somewhat in respect to teachers and unions.  Entirely, no, but different aspects of the opinion were.  This is what is called compromise.   People being able to listen to others, adjust their own views when necessary and move forward.  It all boils down to respect.  Every single one of us is affected by this economy, yet some view only themselves as victims, feeling entitled to more than others.  If we simply realized that everyone (except the wealthy who seem to have limitless funds even now) is struggling, then we can come together and actually make a change.  There is a very good reason that humans have 2 ears and 1 mouth.  We should listen twice as much as we talk.  Maybe we can all learn something that way and be more sympathetic to others.  So lets start our days by keeping this in mind when we enter into any conversation.  Listen more than you talk and the other person will open up more and we might realize that they are saying something important that needs to be heard.  Smile, be attentive, and one person at a time we can make a difference.