Respect Appears to be Hard to Find

I've just looked back through my rambling blog to find stories that I have written about Respect, and I can find nothing. But they are there, somewhere, sprinkled around in the more than five hundred stories I've written over the past six years.  They are there in plain sight, but I'm having difficulty locating them. Respect appears to be hard to find.

Respect

A feeling of high regard one human has for 

another; admiration because of blah, blah, blah.

                                                        --Mikidikipedia

In its most stripped-down, basic definition, respect for our fellow man and woman is something each of us deserve. Just being, not doing, is worthy of respect.

A more in-depth description of respect is when you have to fill in the blah, blah, blah. Just being is not good enough for some people. You have to earn their high regard for you. There's work to be done. So you can't just stand still in one spot with your hands in your pockets and wear a t-shirt that says, "I'm being. I deserve respect!" Oh, no! It ain't that easy. You have to do stuff. Ya know, the blah, blah, blah mentioned above stuff.

There are those who will say "Respect is gone" but I disagree. Respect is not gone, it just looks as if it's gone. Like the slight of hand of the master magician, its disappearance is an illusion.

Illusion

A thing that your senses will wrongly
tell you "is" when in fact it really "isn't."

                                         ---Mikidikipedia

Respect is still here; it's alive and well and thriving. Except for an occasional close encounter with disregard, respect is all around us: our family, friends, co-workers, schoolmates, members of our church and community. It is still the accepted behavior of the civilized world, but at times it looks as if it's disappeared. The power of deception is in the magic of the master manipulators. A good example for this is reality television and the people whose goal it is to make a lot of money by deceiving the gullible: you and me and everyone else who are watching reality television and believing it's real.

Respect is not going away, but reality TV and Hollywood will make you believe it is. The truth is manipulated to give viewers the illusion that stable, humble and kind have been devoured by manic, egomania, and mean. And that can be problematic for the very young, the very gullible, the very stupid, and the misdirected. These people will look at bad behavior they see on TV and in the movies and assimilate it into their own behavior. Monkey see, monkey do. Remember when millions of people began smoking in the 1930's and 40's when they saw their favorite actors smoking in the movies? Oh, I forgot; that was way before your time. Smoking was a cool thing to do, but we have now discovered smoking is anything but cool, and so is being mean to others, so don't do it. Be nice.

Respect is here to stay and that's reality.