I need a "bleep" machine...I don't know the technical name for it, but its the machine television networks use to bleep out bad words during award shows etc. I am becoming increasingly concerned about what comes out of my mouth, and am afraid my mouth is working faster then my brain. I need a machine to catch the things I shouldn't be saying, but am to slow to catch before it leaves my lips.
The reason this has become of concern to me is that in the recent past there have incidents around me to where people have been called onto the carpet about what they said. Most recently, in the news President Obama made a comment about his lack of bowling skills....he said it looked like something out of the Special Olympics...was it something he should have said? No it wasn't....but do I think it has more meaning then just an off the cuff statement? No I don't.
Another incident happened to a colleague of mine I work with. An excellent teacher, one I truly respect as an educator. She made a perfectly innocent comment to her students about doing what she asks or else "off with their heads..." Now I am a parent, and if one of my kids came home and told me their teacher had made this comment, I honestly don't think I would be concerned about her being a psychopath. A parent of one her students did just that though....What I wanted to ask this parent was....."Do you honestly have a concern that your child will have their head chopped off????"....
I just think we all have become so concerned about being so politically correct that we have lost site of common sense. We all have made comments we wish were never said...but I hope most people either know that the comment was harmless...or at least give me the benefit of the doubt about what I meant. I believe common sense is becoming a rare attribute in people...Maybe it is just that we all have so little control of our lives these days that when an opportunity arises where we can exert some power we just go for it.....I really don't know.
Back to the bleep machine...along with this machine I want a time delay....ohhhhh a sec or two would be fine....time enough for the bleep machine to catch what I said and bleep it out. Then when people ask me what I had said, I have time to re-think my statement, correct it...and come out without incident......."Nooooo what I said was that you have beautiful baby...."
