Glass House

Rude [rood] >adj. 1 offensively impolite or ill-mannered: she had been rude to her boss [with infinitive] it’s rude to ask a lady her age.
Referring to a taboo subject such as sex in a way considered improper and offensive: he made a rude gesture. [attrib.] having startling abruptness: the war came as a very rude awakening.2 roughly made or done; lacking subtlety or sophistication: a rude coffin.
archaic, ignorant and uneducated: the new religion was first promulgated by rude men.
3 [attrib.] chiefly Brit. Vigorous or hearty: Isabel had always been in rude health.
-DERIVATIVES rude-ly adv.; rude-ness n.; ru-der-y n.
-ORIGIN Middle English (in sense 2, also ‘uncultured’): from Old French, from Latin rudis ‘unwrought’ (referring to handicraft), figuratively ‘uncultivated’; related to rudus ‘broken stone.’
Dominating the headlines this week have been several high profile cases of indecorous public behavior. In this age of around the clock “news” coverage, in competition for ratings, all forms of media have latched onto this topic with both claws. Like the old wives’ tale of celebrity deaths coming in threes, so to are the most recent Miss Manners felons. Joe Wilson, Republican Congressional Representative from South Carolina, Kanye West, inarticulate egomaniacal pop star, and tennis great Serena Williams, all find themselves amid a maelstrom of public outcry led by those who are acting as today’s moral entrepreneurs. Is this really news, and do we need everyone weighing in with their opinion on proper decorum?
In 1922, Emily Post published her world renowned best seller on proper etiquette. The timing of this publication couldn’t have been better; the Roaring 20’s weren’t called “roaring” for nothing. America was coming out of the period of strict Victorian morals. It was time for society to finally let its collective hair down. The finishing school contingent was appalled at the deprivation of societal norms as they new them. Most of these young ladies of “old money” wealth and privilege wanted to remind the nouveau riche a certain moral respectability comes with affluence; a message which many ignored. Post’s book has remained the standard for the last eighty-seven years and seventeen printings. It is this same set of manners the hoity-toity of today refer. Antiquated yes; needed, in some cases, but not enough to warrant the overblown, overhyped scrutiny that is prevailing in the previously mentioned cases. Let’s take a look at each scenario.
Congressman Wilson, who shouted “You lie!” at the President during his speech to Congress concerning health care, represents the great state of South Carolina, home of Preston Brooks. Who is Preston Brooks you say? In 1856, Preston Brooks beat the living shit out of Charles Sumner with a gold tipped cane right on the Senate floor. Over what? In today’s vernacular, Sumner ‘dissed his uncle, A.P. Butler and his views on slavery. Though Brooks was censured for this little fiasco, his constituents re-elected him, and sent him numerous gold-tipped canes to boot. When Congress reconvened after the summer break, most members came armed. Needless to say, they had to check their weapons at the door. Wilson’s constituents love him as well or they wouldn’t have elected him for his forth consecutive term.
The Congressman is so far to the right, he voted for keeping the Confederate flag flying over his states Capital building. Found out this bit of news at a website called thinkprogress.org., isn’t that an oxymoron? Several news sources have made reference to Wilson’s stance, alluding to his overt racism as the cause for his behavior. Wilson claims it was just a “spontaneous outburst” during an emotionally charged moment. Wilson apologized to the President, who readily accepted. It did not matter one iota whether the apology was sincere or not. The President was quick to put the matter behind him, and focus on the health care issue, going so far as to instruct Congress not to sanction Representative Wilson. It is the media who keeps fanning the flames of discord. The same may be said in the case of Serena Williams.
Williams went into a profanity laced tirade at the U.S. Open tennis championships recently. She forfeited the match, was fined, and made a contrite apology. The media and the USTA won’t put the matter to bed. Williams’ apology wasn’t timely. It wasn’t sincere. Her behavior deemed deplorable. The USTA is going to form a committee to investigate the matter further to see if perhaps Williams should forfeit her winnings from her and her sister Venus capturing the doubles title. This committee is going to consider whether Serena should possibly be banned from participating in future Grand Slam events. Why don’t we just draw and quarter her, and be done with it. Don’t these people remember John McEnroe, Ivan Tirilac, Ilie Nastasie, or Jimmy Connors? Can you imagine the USGA fining or suspending Tiger Woods from competition for all the expletives he spews after bad shots? The rest of the world would think the Americans have finally gone off the deep end. The PGA Tour would suffer tremendously, as would its current global appeal. The continual media glare has done the trick. The holier than thou have had their say. Now let Serena Williams get back to playing tennis, instead of explaining her demeanor. As for Kanye West, well, he’s just a “jackass.”
That’s what the President called West during what he believed was an “off the record” moment. And now the President is under fire. Jesus Christ! Can you imagine what a field day the press would have had if they were all vying for soundbites from Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, pottymouths both!? And besides, Kanye West did behave like a jackass at the MTV video music awards. (they still show videos on MTV?). Does anyone want to disagree? I didn’t think so. The thing that galls me the most is now, everyone and their brother are examining why all this rude behavior.
It couldn’t possibly be that we’ve become a culture so permissive that “shit” was uttered on the mainstream program ER. Maybe it’s because we’ve stretched the boundaries of propriety so far, and now a couple of incidents bring to our attention that maybe this isn’t such a good thing. Maybe we just haven’t caught up with the rest of the world about not taking everything so goddamn seriously.
We as a society have allowed the moral self-righteous to become so preoccupied with how others are behaving that they forgot to examine their motives. Like the politicians who rail on behalf of some cause, only to be accused of what they’re railing against. (See Mark Foley, Eliot Spitzer, and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, what’s up with these South Carolina folk?) When did those in the media become the shining stars of moral purity? They cast aspersions in the same tone of voice that Alex Trebek uses when he tells the correct answer to a contestant who has erred. Trebek always acts as though he knew the answer, and makes the person feel as if their fly is down.
When you come right down to it, I’m with Emily Post. Stuff like keep your elbows off the table, chew with your mouth closed, no double dipping at the veggie platter, don’t fart in front of strangers, don’t use your fork as if it were a steam shovel, and open doors for others. If they don’t thank me, I’ll let them know about it. But when they return the favor, I will say thank you.
Those in the media better take a long hard look in the mirror, and make sure their demeanor is flawless enough to cast stones. Let’s get a thicker skin, and lighten up. There are much more serious matters that deserve our attention. I don’t know about you, but I have enough concerns with my own behavior; I really don’t give a shit about someone else’s crassness. Maybe that’s because I say “fuck” a lot.