For those of you old enough to remember Archie Bunker I had this thought. Why was Archie Bunker so very popular ? The answer is right there and I'm sure you all know it too. Archie was just saying what the majority of us think. Simple as that. Archie could say and do things on that sitcom without fear of reprisal. That was the beauty of it all. Just speak what was on his mind,the way he perceived it to be. We all knew the stereotyping and discriminatory remarks were just wrong, but it was funny to hear someone say them out loud, in a public forum. And you don't get more public than television.
We have all heard our family,close friends and relatives say things in confidence that we know are wrong. We have all had thoughts about a subject that we just keep to ourselves. It is an ever increasing sign of the times. The necessity to be politically correct at all times. Note I said necessity, because you can be sued for your remarks today where as not so many years back you just may have gotten a fat lip. I think it may have something to do with us becoming a more dependent society ,rather than independent.
A recent case in point is Hank Williams Jr. Look at the trouble he got into. And all he did was make an analogy. He didn't directly call the president anything and made some remarks about the republican leadership playing golf with the man. A big hoopla follows. Imagine what Archie Bunker might have had to say about all of that. You know what it is,admit it, some of you out there have thought it too. But we are becoming too dependent to risk offending anyone. Hank Jr. pulled his song (that's his story) and he could because he sure isn't dependent upon ESPN for a living. I'm just sayin'
Something like an Archie was funny because he was one of only a few saying that stuff out loud. If you have a crowd saying things like that ,it isn't funny. It was true then and it is true now, certain things should not be spoken out loud, unless in confidence with the proper group to receive it. We all say different things depending on the circumstance. The jokes I say to my co workers may or may not be the jokes I share with my wife. Does that make me a bigot ? Of course not. Was Archie a bigot ? No,he was not.
It would be interesting and fun to hear what others are thinking sometimes. When they are standing there before you making their politically correct statements. Repeating the standard response of the day on a number of topics. It would be interesting indeed. If you have known the person for some time you probably wouldn't be too surprised. Most people let their feelings be known in subtle ways,if nothing else.
My father had a name for those that always said the correct thing. Talking out of the other side of their face !
A reference to being two faced or deceitful. He didn't like it much and neither do I. When that situation arises I refer back to what Mom always said, if you don't have anything nice to say,don't say anything at all. Sometimes a difficult ,if not impossible thing to do for a person that loves to run their mouth like me.
I do it,you do it and everyone else does it. We all have thoughts that we just keep to ourselves. It is a good thing and a natural thing. We start out by just repeating what we have heard others say, Like our parents or siblings. As we age and mature we begin to form our own opinions. Some will be at odds with our core knowledge. Sometimes people separate altogether from their original teachings and thoughts. Others will cling to the things they were taught and never abandon that position. The trick lies in becoming comfortable with yourself and your own opinion. To finally decide upon a stand and be comfortable defending that point of view. And by defending, I don't mean shouting or coming to blows over it. That comes with age. And with age comes new labels, old fogey,old fashioned,out of touch and just pain ornery. That's what the kids will say.
And by kids I'm talking about the twenty-somethings or thirty-somethings. But if we hang it there long enough and are fortunate we can become " Archie." I've said it before and I'll say it again, I want to grow to be a very old man for only one reason. A very old man can pretty much say whatever he feels like saying ! Most people will not say anything back to you,as least not where you can hear it,and they won't hit you either. When I was young I delighted in listening to my Great Grandfather tell the other men that they were wrong ! I thought how cool is that. These men were some tough blue collar hard working guys, yet they said little to him. Great Grandfather Lester set them boys straight ! He was just being Archie.
We have all heard our family,close friends and relatives say things in confidence that we know are wrong. We have all had thoughts about a subject that we just keep to ourselves. It is an ever increasing sign of the times. The necessity to be politically correct at all times. Note I said necessity, because you can be sued for your remarks today where as not so many years back you just may have gotten a fat lip. I think it may have something to do with us becoming a more dependent society ,rather than independent.
A recent case in point is Hank Williams Jr. Look at the trouble he got into. And all he did was make an analogy. He didn't directly call the president anything and made some remarks about the republican leadership playing golf with the man. A big hoopla follows. Imagine what Archie Bunker might have had to say about all of that. You know what it is,admit it, some of you out there have thought it too. But we are becoming too dependent to risk offending anyone. Hank Jr. pulled his song (that's his story) and he could because he sure isn't dependent upon ESPN for a living. I'm just sayin'
Something like an Archie was funny because he was one of only a few saying that stuff out loud. If you have a crowd saying things like that ,it isn't funny. It was true then and it is true now, certain things should not be spoken out loud, unless in confidence with the proper group to receive it. We all say different things depending on the circumstance. The jokes I say to my co workers may or may not be the jokes I share with my wife. Does that make me a bigot ? Of course not. Was Archie a bigot ? No,he was not.
It would be interesting and fun to hear what others are thinking sometimes. When they are standing there before you making their politically correct statements. Repeating the standard response of the day on a number of topics. It would be interesting indeed. If you have known the person for some time you probably wouldn't be too surprised. Most people let their feelings be known in subtle ways,if nothing else.
My father had a name for those that always said the correct thing. Talking out of the other side of their face !
A reference to being two faced or deceitful. He didn't like it much and neither do I. When that situation arises I refer back to what Mom always said, if you don't have anything nice to say,don't say anything at all. Sometimes a difficult ,if not impossible thing to do for a person that loves to run their mouth like me.
I do it,you do it and everyone else does it. We all have thoughts that we just keep to ourselves. It is a good thing and a natural thing. We start out by just repeating what we have heard others say, Like our parents or siblings. As we age and mature we begin to form our own opinions. Some will be at odds with our core knowledge. Sometimes people separate altogether from their original teachings and thoughts. Others will cling to the things they were taught and never abandon that position. The trick lies in becoming comfortable with yourself and your own opinion. To finally decide upon a stand and be comfortable defending that point of view. And by defending, I don't mean shouting or coming to blows over it. That comes with age. And with age comes new labels, old fogey,old fashioned,out of touch and just pain ornery. That's what the kids will say.
And by kids I'm talking about the twenty-somethings or thirty-somethings. But if we hang it there long enough and are fortunate we can become " Archie." I've said it before and I'll say it again, I want to grow to be a very old man for only one reason. A very old man can pretty much say whatever he feels like saying ! Most people will not say anything back to you,as least not where you can hear it,and they won't hit you either. When I was young I delighted in listening to my Great Grandfather tell the other men that they were wrong ! I thought how cool is that. These men were some tough blue collar hard working guys, yet they said little to him. Great Grandfather Lester set them boys straight ! He was just being Archie.
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