R-E-S-P-E-C-T talk about what it means to me R-E-………………………….

Well I have to comment on some interesting things which happened over the weekend which relate to respect.

My mum got quoted on Facebook the other day the quote was “There is no excuse for bad manners” which sort of explains itself. However I think there are some people who many not know this yet as over the weekend we had outbursts from Serena Williams at the US Open, Kanye West at the VMA and Emmanuel Adebayor an English soccer player. All of these I think may be classed as bad manners or maybe being disrespectful which is a worry.

Serena’s outburst is probably the most forgivable as I really believe it was a heat of the moment thing and was just a reaction to the event. What is not forgivable was it took two days and the threat of a possible ban before an apology was given. I can understand with imposing manner she could be viewed as aggressive but the reality is that she has never done this before, admittedly she has had the odd moment but there are normally confined to chastising herself for failure rather than targeting other people. (Her fine by the way was $10k and she earned $350k go figure if that is enough of a deterrent)

Kanye West on the other hand got up on stage when his personal favorite did not win an award and took the microphone from the winner to give “his” opinion. Subsequently he has apologized 3 times (once on Jay Leno) but of course the transgression can not be taken back. This of course is not the first time he has had an outburst on a show. He famously stated he was robbed of the top prize at some awards and that he would never return, well until the next year that is. I wonder if he gets invited back next year, well he has apologized so its ok, isn’t it ???

Adebayor’s outburst and there were actually two of them in the same game is slightly more worrying. After scoring a goal he ran the full length of the pitch and taunted the opposing fans (he used to play for them). What is interesting is when both Managers were asked for an opinion both said “I did not see it” well excuse me the 35,000 people there saw it and the millions watching on TV saw it. Both of them as professionals in a sense acted in a way which either condoned the action or worse still accepted it as ok and part of the game. Well it is not ok. It is not ok that he subsequently stamped on another player (a case not proved yet but my vote is yes he did) and it is not ok for people to ignore the actions. One of the most worrying things about the players behavior was that he had spent the week disrespecting these fans and their team. In a sense you could say maybe it was inevitable. In retrospect it is less of a surprise than the others.

This type of behavior in people is not that uncommon. I could quote hundreds of people who have acted inappropriately so what’s the big deal why bring it up now (apart from the fact I need to blog on something)

Just as our children shaped by us we are shaped by the people around us. There is lots of talk about role models but do we want a role model who ignores or condones unsportsmanlike behavior. Do we think it ok to be disrespectful to others. What is so smart about imposing you view on someone else. I can not say I am white as snow here my mouth has got me into trouble lots of times. The worry for me is who is left to hold the line who stands up for respect when the very people we are expected to respect don’t.

So the question is really how to deal with this type of behavior and where do people get the impression that it is ok. If they get it from us then we need to shape up. I think it is our own tolerance for inappropriate behavior which allows these things to get out of hand. The person dropping litter or pushing into a queue is possibly where it starts. I got a very sour look from a guy outside of Athens airport the other day when I got up from my bench and picked up the cigarette butts he was dropping on the floor and put them in the bin. He seemed offended I saw it as the right thing to do. Maybe next time he might do it himself you never know.

Sometimes the right thing to do is not easy and it takes courage. To stand fast when the world is hell bent on brining itself down is not easy but if I don’t do it who will. Maybe I am in the wrong century and my views are long out of date but I was brought up to believe “there is no excuse for bad manners“.