I'm Offended!

Do you want to know what offends me? People who are offended by almost anything! If you see something on TV that offends you, change the channel or switch the damned thing off. If someone says something that offends you...IGNORE THEM! Something offensive in a book/magazine/newspaper? Don't read it! Something offends you on the goddamned internet? Leave the site!

Seriously...people today are so fucking hypersensitive about everything. I wish could blame social media...but I can't. It started long before Facebook or Twitter or even MySpace. It all started with the term "political correctness".

I first heard that ridiculous term back in the 1980s. Before that, people just attempted to be polite and use some common sense. Certain things weren't said in polite company or in mixed company (meaning you didn't say FUCK in front of the minister's missus). There was an unwritten code among people of any given society that certain things were said/written/implied only among the company of like-minded individuals (aka friends & family).

My father and uncle often said things that I found offensive. Did I call them on it? Hell no! They were grown men and could, by law, say pretty much whatever the bloodyfuckinghellinahandbasket they wished to. But something started happening in the 80s...certain words, phrases and actions were called "politcally incorrect".

I'm not sure who started it. Probably a Democrat. I seem to recall that it came about at the same time as Tipper Gore (Al Gore's missus) started demanding that records started displaying warning labels about the content. That, by the way, backfired. Pretty much anything that didn't have a warning label...didn't sell.

I bitched a blue streak about political correctness then and still do. All it ever was (and continues to be) is a clever method to control our speech and inevitably our thoughts. Orwell's Thought Police come to mind.

Why control this? To create a society of mindless drones. Good little worker bees. Just what the corporations, who truly run things, want. If they can create a docile, mindless society, then they can control things much easier. They've since figured out how to make folks feel fucking self-righteous when calling people out for being insensitve.

Guess what. There are black people, white people, yellow people, brown people, red people, and a whole bunch in between. There are tall people, short people, fat people, skinny people, rich people, poor people, average people, straight people, gay people, open minded people, closed minded people and just about any sort of people you can think of. The only thing we all have in common is that we're people.

When I was a kid, jokes about different people were passed around. Polish jokes. Italian jokes. Black jokes...even white jokes. No particular group was safe! Just living in the state of West Virginia could make one an easy target for a joke. To my knowledge, no one ever died as a direct result of a joke. When I moved back to Pittsburgh after years of living in Ohio, I was the object of many jokes. The point was...they were JOKES! HA HA! Jokes! Funny! Some were corny, some were dirty, some were a bit cruel...but the humor was a simple way for people to deal with other people that were assumed to be different. Luckily, we are ALL different.

In America, we're now expected to be offended by the most minor infraction made by our fellow humans. Someone says a bad word? BE OFFENDED! Someone wears something that to some could be considered questionable? BE OFFENDED! Janet Jackson's boob pops out on national TV? Be not only offended but OUTRAGED!!!! Personally, I'm surprised no one suggested she have her boobs cut off for that one. I was most offended because I thought her boobs were nowhere near as attractive as I thought they'd be....but I digress.

In America, and now thanks to our supreme ability to sell our crappy TV shows and movies to every other country on the planet, violence and gore is considered OK...as long as it's on TV or in a movie or a song or a video. Again, it's a way to dull our senses and keep us under control. While I enjoy seeing a good explosion on TV or seeing a rotting zombie's intestines dragging behind him/her in a movie...do I feel this is appropriate for everyone? No...but who am I to make that decision? I can only make up my own mind. If you're a parent and don't feel that your kid is able to process this information correctly (meaning to understand that TV & movies aren't real), then you do what ya gotta do! Don't rely on anyone else to make that decision.

Before you decide to be offended by anything, ask yourself this: How does this ___________ affect me and/or society as a whole? Is it really something to be offended by or is it merely another distraction? Ask youself if your need to be self-important and noticed by others is more important than another's right to live life as they see fit. If you don't like what someone does...ignore it. Unless that someone is in a position to alter your life or society as a whole by their actions. (you know...like a politician or a corporation)

Do I sound paranoid? If you think I do...that doesn't offend me. It takes a lot more than that to offend me. I base my thoughts on facts as I understand them. Could I be wrong? Until someone proves me wrong, I consider myself right.

As a Christian, I experience things on a daily basis that offend me. Do I whine and cry about it? No. I have my faith and my way of dealing with it. You know...live and let live. Acts of violence and cruelty offend me. Calling me a name does not. Words, with or without context, are just words. My mother raised me to be stronger than mere words. If yours didn't, I pity you. And guess what...I don't give a flying fuck if you're offended by that.

Stop and take a long look around you. Look at our country and the mess it's in. Look at the world and see the mess it's in. Then ask yourself who's truly to blame. Then you'll find something to be truly offended by.