Yesterday as I was in the car looking for a space to park at the gym, I saw two men screaming at one another. Their hurling insults were so loud I threw out the possibility of a car bump. No one could get this angry over such a minor infraction. I wondered if this was a staged video, but the graphic looks of surprise and horror on their faces of attack would have challenged even the most brilliant Hollywood movie studio. They looked like soldiers engaged in battle. Camera mobile phones were out, a crowd had gathered, so I parked as far as possible, nonchalantly getting out of my car and headed to my class.
Zumba class takes place several doors down from the gym, it has large windows and feels open- it's one of the reasons why I enjoy being there, I can look out, unlike in the gym which is gray and dark and doesn't have any windows at all; like a dungeon.
While warming-up I felt I was watching a film, because the men (whoever they were) wanted the world to see them in a fist fight! And a video was serving its purpose, making its rounds. The class continued and I figured eventually these two after a broken nose or tooth would end the brawl, get back into their vehicles and drive away. I tried to put this incident out of my mind reminding myself that I live in a civilized country, with layers of moral conduct.
Then I saw the Internet recap from the television show The View. I watched and heard Bill O'Reilly offensively remark about the proposed Mosque near Ground Zero in a way to further fuel an irrational fear of Islam, and watched hosts, Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar walk off the set. However, since Barbara Walters was present, and can keep her head, she said we should be able to discuss differences without screaming, demeaning or wiping our hands clean of one another.
The day was thick with savagery oozing out, with some coated only a smidgeon more with layers of civilized and socialized behavior than others.
We have become a nation of ill-behaved, rude and angry people.
There is far too much violence on television. We need to be aware of not only what we watch but how it affects us and band together to establish broadcaster guidelines. I believe TV and movie producers would like to tone down the violence, but they don't want to be the first to do so. National standards would be able to achieve what individuals would not do by themselves in a competitive market.
And we need to go back to teaching character education in the school system like we had in the 1930's. Programs that focused on teaching honesty, fairness, citizenship and other virtues, like respect and concern for others. We need to re-learn the basics of civility, and combat fear to tame the beast within.
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