Dumbing Down

RIGHT: 57 year old Madonna struts her junk at this year's Grammys

The urge and desire to watch Saturday afternoon television was interrupted by the wife's decision to have a conversation. Should I shush her or gaze into her eyes and say, "Yes, let's".

We all know the answer to that one and, quite frankly, her premise has been one I've contemplated many times before. It's called the dumbing down of America. We accept actions today that would have been verboten forty years ago and we do it without reservation.

As an example, Bruce Jenner is transforming into a woman. Our initial reaction was shock in some quarters but after a few days this transformation is third page news. I maintain there's only one reason for his decision. It's totally embarrassing to be living off the cash of the Kardashian's. He wants to be his own man(sorry) and the best way to do it would to start his own bra and panty brand.

But I digress. Most oldsters, me in particular, are flabbergasted at societal changes in the past half century in which  a reaction of 'shock and awe' has been replaced by 'ho-hum'. When I was in high school if a girl became pg the gossip machines were in full force. The child, in many cases, went to live with her aunt and uncle, aka 'A home for wayward girls'. Today, that person would either be held in high esteem by her friends and given a baby shower or her action would receive a 'no big deal' response. As for the father, well, he's now doing it to another chick two lockers down the hall.

I was coaching high school basketball in 1988. During a game one of the players became completely frustrated with our defense and blurted out, "Our defense sucks"! Zap, he was slapped with a technical foul by the referee. Said today that same word would have the same impact as if he'd said, "I'll have a short order of pancakes with eggs, please".

So, here's the exercise for today. Feel free to chime in. List as many examples of the dumbing down of America as possible. This could take up an entire afternoon and make it a no television day.

1) Saying or yelling the F word in public. Wasn't there a White House bill signing? "This is an effing big deal"
2) Swearing in public
3) Girls smoking in public
4) Females with tattoos strategically located on a partially exposed breast or small of the back
5) Couples cohabitating and announcing said action
6) Proudly announcing a specific sexual preference
7) Wearing provocative clothing
8) Physically attacking authority, police, judges, teachers
9) Being on welfare and letting people know about it.
10) Proudly telling everyone about your sexual preferences