Not what you were expecting? Not surprised. In days past, respect was something that was a given. If you didn't show respect to your surroundings during the time of the caveman, you were dead. During the transition of the Americas, if you didn't have respect for hard work you didn't survive. Then things changed a bit. In the 1800s, if you weren't able to show respect to other people then you definitely didn't get any and usually ended up dead. In the early 1900s up to the 1950s, respect for family, honor and history was a very important quality that ensured your morality and displayed your quality of upbringing.

Then came the 60s. The times changed drastically. The tides turned to "me". That all important word that has remained a constant to this day. What is happening to "my" life? What is happening to "me"? How will this affect "me"? How will the public perceive "me"? Family life changed because the focus wasn't on the family anymore. Personal life changed because most were concerned with their own personal gain that what was best for the group or even the family. Politics changed drastically because it wasn't about honor, family values or what was best for the country at large. The focus was on personal gain and how the politicians could further themselves by ignoring that little word "respect".

Respect used to be common place but is now almost non-existent in the American culture. Respect for life. Respect for the truth. Respect for oneself. Respect for those around you. Respect for the environment. Respect for history. Respect for time. Respect for hard work. Respect for just about everything has disappeared. Where did it go? Have we become so materialistic that we are no longer able to respect our family, our friends, a hard earned living, the things that make up our lives and what those who came before us went through to give us these opportunities and respect for life itself?

Judgemental? Hell yes. I find it increasingly difficult every day to instill the value (yes, I said value) of respect into my son because of all of the things that he sees outside of the house. He sees people fighting in the street. He sees children with bruises. He sees beggars on the street. He sees a constant and almost total lack of respect for everything and everybody around him that he doesn't understand why this is something that I want him to learn. It holds no value in his eyes because he rarely sees it or hears about it from anyone but me.

When are we going to start understanding that it takes respecting nature for nature to give back to us? You can't go to a place, look around, say "this is beautiful, I want to live here", then turn around and bulldoze everything in sight to build a fucking house and expect the wildlife and the environment to stay the same.

When are we going to start remembering that it takes showing respect to others in order to get respect in return. You can't push people around in the stores when you are shopping or honk your horn at the person in front of you in frustration of our overflowing traffic problems and expect that it won't have repurcussions.

When are we going to understand that our history is fading due to lack of respect? Remebering the things in our lives, the stories from our parents lives and the traditions from days gone by is what family is about. How many people snap photographs of their children like our parents used to do to us? How many people actually take personal family vacations together anymore? Respecting our individual histories and respecting our families is what love is all about. If you grew up in a crappy family, see that it was crappy and have a vision for something better then you are respecting your own history.

I have a firm belief that there wouldn't be as many divorces, broken families and jails filled with kids and young adults if there were a certain amount of respect shown in families. If a marriage is to work then each person has to have respect for the other party. Respect the fact that each person is different and revel in those differences. Respect the feelings of each other. Respect the marriage itself by working hard together for a greater good, Love.

Our children see everything. They hear everything. They absorb everything. They are most definitely a product of their environment, both at home and that environment that they are subjected to when they are away from us.

Respect. It's all about respect and it's becoming such a rarity that people are starting to crave it so much more. We all hear the stories of the kids with the guns shooting their classmates. Respect. That's what it comes down to. They were show such disrespect for such a long time that they cracked. It has nothing to do with the music or the videos.

Basically, our lives revolve around the need for respect yet few of us are receiving validation or giving that same validation to others and our environment.

[climbing off the soap box}