Celebrating Civility This July Fourth

As a former English teacher, I cherish the use of words to express ideas and feelings. Whether in stories, essays, poems, plays, letters or just everyday conversations, their meanings are important. I am ashamed, however, of how they are currently being used in public spaces, whether virtual or face-to-face. Our own President used the obscenity “f…ed” to describe the fate of countries that refused to stop bombing each other. At a recent local protest, a car passenger raised his middle finger at me and mouthed “A-hole.” In a supermarket, I heard a mother tell her toddler to “shut up.” I learned of an Octogenarian who overheard that his thinking was “garbled”. None of these words facilitate effective relationships, understanding of the recipient or civility and peace in a larger sense. How do they demonstrate respect? Why not use words that promote accuracy and civility: “bombed” rather than “f…ed”, “different” rather than “A-hole”, “quiet” rather than “shut up” and “please explain” rather than “garbled”? Let’s apply the wisdom of one of our Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin. Here are his exact words: “Be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to [at least] one, and enemy to none.” A good message for the upcoming Fourth of July.