Monday, December 26, 2011

BEING POLITICALLY CORRECT OR FREEDOM OF SPEECH?

Being politically correct is going to be my biggest challenge in this world of today. I grew up in the era of having freedom of speech and sometimes it's hard for me to remember that everyone can be offended by a harmless remark if it's their day to be defensive.

Working around young people keeps me on my toes and I tend to want to mentor and adopt all of them.  I just realized you can no longer be friendly with the younger ones because if you call them young man or little girl, you are talking down to them.  WHAT??

If you work around a sensitive man, and you lament to someone that you are so glad to be free of men in your life, you will offend the man because you included a disparaging remark about men.  WHAT???  I have always used the routine of joking about my exes and their cheating ways. Now, 25 years later, I'm still telling the same tired jokes but they are now considered offensive.

I'm all for not offending people and I realize that in this modern age that we think is so advanced, it is not acceptable of statements we could have made in time past.  Personally, if a comment is made and not meant to be harmful, then what happened to just having a conversation?

Watching my mouth will make me not be the total person I am, but I guess as long as I am politically correct, my freedom of speech will have to be put aside.