the death of civility.

WATCH THIS.

honestly, i've been thinking about civility for a while. 

i read a post on jessie's blog about an essay that her roommate wrote about civility for her american heritage class at byu. 

it was fabulous, go check it.

lately, every time i open up facebook, i see people fighting with each other. 

about everything.

her boyfriend, his girlfriend, she's a brat, he's a jerk, she offended you, yadda yadda.

it's like it's a contest to see who can be the most witty (& borderline rude) to see who can win the 'fight'. 

so, the person who can be the meanest is liked the most?

what?

is it because we're afraid that they'll turn on us next time we express our opinion?

or because we're afraid we'll be labeled as 'fake' if we are genuinely nice to people?

didn't we leave bullying alone freshman year? 

sometimes i'm guilty of being like this too. (i've never been in a fb fight though. haha.)

sometimes i'm sarcastic and rude just because it's funny.

(& lets be honest here, it is funny.)

but, today, i decided to change that.

lets leave the fb fights & the rude snarky comments

in the garbage where they belong.

i don't want to be the girl that people say, oh, she's rude.

it is absolutely not okay with me that i might make a joke at someone else's expense. 

thomas jefferson said that civility is "one of the preservatives of our peace and tranquility."

c'mon, guys.

we're so much better than this.

we don't need to be rude to people around us.

it's become the norm to be rude to other people.

i want to change it.

is it really so hard to just be civil?

no. no, it's not.

you don't have to like everyone you meet.

you don't have to agree with the people who share their opinions with you.

in fact, it's okay to disagree.

that's what the united states is about,

its a marketplace of ideas.

there's a HUGE difference between swearing at someone and telling them what a brat they are for thinking a certain way, and saying "okay, i understand that. i disagree, but thanks for sharing your opinion."

that's all it takes.

just be polite. 

the world will thank you for it.

after all, 

wouldn't you rather be civil for free now,

than be rude and pay for it with your integrity & friendships later?

just think on it.

i am.

loves, 

jess.