In the pursuit of the respect from long ago…
How long ago?
A long time ago, longer than the time of the virus. Maybe from those times when I was a child and my parents told me that I had to show respect towards other people, no matter the age. Maybe even before those times.
What kind of respect? Here are some types that come to mind:
– The manager’s respect towards the people in their team. I know, there were many slip ups in many firms, both Romanian and foreign managers had questionable attitudes towards others and, more than that, they were even promoted. However, this does not make the principle invalid.
– The employee’s respect towards the manager. That meme with the manager who is an idiot has grown dull. The majority complains about their manager, without necessarily changing the department or the company; on the other hand, they want to become a manager, nonetheless.
– The youngster’s respect towards those who are a few years older than them: it has become a trend, that if you are young, you could set aside common sense and act with insolence; this is no proof of higher intelligence but rather of lack of manners;
– Respect towards a profession: just to give a few examples, for 30 years we mocked those who had the profession of educating our children, of those taking care of our physical health, in the case of doctors, or mental health, in the case of psychotherapists. What do I mean? When we start our second or third university as a whim, just to receive a piece of paper at the end, without too much studying, we practice in a field that we otherwise desecrate.
– Respect towards the meaning of value: for many, having value means having money, and its manifestation comes in the shape of cars, enormous villas, fur shoes worn in summer. In other fields, there was a time when overnight, people became what they wanted, giving themselves titles, and the outside shell replaced the substance inside: the more vocal you were, the more you beat your chest, similar to silverback gorillas, the more you were worshiped by certain crowds.
– Respect towards the white page, or for the screen where we post something: it seems that we post our trash too, for everyone to see, and this pursuit of the public’s attention is grotesque
– Respect towards the environment: from my proximity, to the street, to the city, to the country, maybe it would be a good thing to leave behind something cleaned, planted, and not destroyed. In the long run, we “create” the environment where our children will grow.
– Respect towards ourselves: it puzzles me the way we talk about Romanians, whether we live here or abroad: everything is torn to pieces. I am not saying that there are not things that need to be changed. But throwing so much mud at everything that is in this country is like peeing up: it tends to fall back on you.
I do not know how things will be in a few months. I can only hope that we will rethink our system of values, reposition ourselves, and appreciate what matters the most.
