Lamentations..

I like the world. I like living in a technology-filled, western world. Don't get me wrong, I'm not so unaware to realise that there is a lot wrong with it - there is war, greed, needless death, destruction, etc. but overall, I like this era.

What I don't like about it, and bitterly lament the loss of, is honour, duty and respect.

Honour - Dictionary.com tells us that honour is "honesty, fairness, or integrity in one's beliefs and actions" and that about sums up my view. Honour is about doing the right thing, not just because you might get caught but because it's the fair thing. To not cheat or lie, even when it means you might miss out or come second to someone else.

Duty - Dictionary.com tells us that duty is "something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation" but my gripe is with the lack of moral duty people seem to feel. When you have dependents or people who rely on you, duty makes them first. Your feelings should be second to those who have no option. An example would be the horrible experience of having to put a pet to sleep. Duty dictates that we should sit with the pet quietly while the vet administers the injection, cooing softly to them, even when all we want to do is sob like a 3yr old. The pet deserves to go out as calmly as possible. If we can't do it, then we shouldn't be there for the last moments. It's UNFAIR to make the animal suffer our feelings at that time.

Respect - Dictionary.com tells us that respect is "esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability" and I guess my definition would be a slightly more watered down version of that. By respect, I mean respect for everyone. I was recently was standing in a queue and had someone cut in front of me. I knew it was happening and let her make her moves amusedly as I was in no rush. She was an older woman and clearly had a sense of entitlement, that she deserved to move to the front but in doing so showed me a complete lack of respect as a person. Simple things like holding a door for someone shows respect.

Today's society seems hellbent on instant gratification. There doesn't seem to be a sense of honour and duty in going through due process to get something you want or respect for those who have worked harder for something or are more deserved than you.

I recently had a woman declare down her nose to a room that she felt the fact that I needed a second interview "disrespectful" and didn't I agree? I told her no, that the interview process was due process. Her commenting on my interviews was disrepectful as she didn't know me and, secondly, extending her sense of entitlement to me was bordering on rude. That she expected instant gratification after one interview annoyed me. 

Instant gratification is best illustrated by the concept of picking up. You go out to a club, you meet someone, you dance, you go home with them and have sex. That's it. Instant gratification. There is a time and a place for instant gratification but when it's used in such abundance, it makes everything so shallow and superficial. There's no stability, no sense of achievement or lasting gratification.

I'm all for seizing opportunities and taking life by the throat but I don't see constantly doing things because they feel good is doing that. What about things that feel RIGHT? Have you ever regretted doing the RIGHT thing?

There are pockets of rebels who still illustrate the old-fashioned aspects of honour, respect and duty but alas, they are few and far between and I lament the loss of these attributes from the general population. Instead, they've been replaced with senses of entitlement and the drive for instant gratification.

You do not inherently have the right to do anything you want and sometimes, you have to wait. Get over it!