A good way to get punished when I was a kid was to call someone stupid.  It was and still is rude, hurtful and the only thing it ever accomplished was getting in trouble.  There was a golden rule, we knew it –enough said, and what was said was never stupid.  There were other things like this, all covered under an unspoken law, which as an adult I discovered was being polite, compassionate, and well – just plain nice!

I am so sick and tired of the “Politically Correct,” “Challenged” and “American” crap I could throw up.  When did everything in life have to be correct?  This takes me to my other soap box where everyone is a winner – what a load of something rude.  Just because someone doesn’t measure up they are in some way or form “challenged.”  This I might add, from a fast forward to backward society that is trying not to label people!  As for the “American” tag, for the love of all that is good we live in the USA so leave it there!  I don’t need Indian Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Irish Americans – you get the point.  We are all in this life together so enough with the don’t touch P-Touch self-adhesive stupid!

If people took half the time they take making sure they are politically correct, (and excuse me but WHEN did politics EVER become correct?) and just accept each other and get on with life, things would be one heck of a lot better in this world.  When I was raised you accepted people for who they were, judged them on their actions and either lived with them or without them as your life continued into adulthood.  Nobody ever gets along with everyone; we are too cynical, ego driven and insecure.  However, make the effort at least and then decide, but decide on the merit not the label.

A typical day in my school years would be getting to class, saying the pledge and singing America the Beautiful, wherein Erma who sat to my left would go into this kum-by-ya style production of hand gestures showing the sea to shining sea.  Then, you had class and some of the slower kids would be dismissed to special education and the day continued.  We did not sing politically correct music, sit in educationally correct class rooms and some of my friends were not mentally challenged!  We would have needed a score card to understand all that crap and we got along just fine.

I watch kids now that are so scheduled and labeled it makes me dizzy.  We came home, got our bikes or a rubber ball and went off in search of friends.  We did not have time outs or scheduled activities with a group.  Some did have music lessons and we laughed at them being in the band – I guess they were play-challenged and we were off tune and politically incorrect.  All I know is after they were done, they got their bikes and rubber balls and we played in harmony.

The society now taking center stage in a totally incorrect and challenged world, has taken their practices and politics, to levels that are destroying what was once a stable society.  That society at its very core was sincere and compassionate and at its worst stopped to inhale the flowers it wore in its hair.  I am proud to have been born when I was and how I raised my children.

One of my favorite affirmations of  just that, was when my oldest was in 6^th grade and became close friends with her teacher.  She would tell me about their lunches together and how they would walk around the playground together.  I was anxious to meet this wonderful woman and when I did found her to be everything my daughter had described and more.  I also found her to be black (sorry that is how I was raised and it is no slam on any race – I am white, it is what it is damn it.)  When I told my daughter we had chatted and I was surprised she had never mentioned her teacher was black, she turned to me shrugging her shoulders like I had just asked her what time it was, she said “Oh.”   Enough said and I smiled and thanked God for his wisdom in my parenting – after all he DID start us all out with a “stable” society didn’t he?

Forrest Gump thought life was a box of chocolates and he was on the right track.  However as I see it, life is more like a good vegetable soup.  If you stick to fresh ingredients, cook slow and add an occasional spice, you don’t need a cook book, the food network or a degree from a college to have a great meal, because it will take care of itself as it simmers.  It can’t get any simpler than that, no need for labels that are more harmful than ever helpful.  The only way to ever be correct, is to just be the person you are inside, and see others the same way.

Take all the political challenged and labeled crap that can set an overstressed mind to boil and leave it by the curb.  Let ideas, emotion, compassion and care simmer on your back burner until you realize the value of those around you.  That is after all the correct thing to do and just in case you need an illustration of this, ask Dakota Meyer who just received the Medal of Honor for risking his life while saving numerous others while under fire.  When asked how he felt about the award, he commented honestly, “I just did what was right.”

THAT is American, THAT is Politically correct and THAT is a Challenge we all need to accept and emulate.