12 Jun The (Good?) Old Days – Part V: Political Correctness

One of those emails that goes around says, “If you remember this stuff you were raised in the 1930s to the 1970s..” One that always sticks out to me: “Little league had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!”

I’m all for, as an example, evolving from Chairman to Chairperson (although fascinating that former SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro opted for the male version of the word and new head Mary Jo White has decided she is just “Chair”). But how far does this go? Several US towns have stopped referring to “manholes” and only say “utility” hole.

Bugs Bunny got into some nasty stuff that would never be able to be produced today. His snarky, violent approach just wouldn’t cut it. And forget about cartoon cat and mouse Tom & Jerry.

I found this on the Web: “A UK recruiter was stunned when her job advert for ‘reliable’ and ‘hard-working’ applicants was rejected by the job centre as it could be offensive to unreliable and lazy people.” Really?

And we all know that office PC has really come to an extreme. I know of a law firm secretary who got a settlement for hostile work environment when she overheard a partner, in his office, scream obscenities at a lawyer adversary on a case. Even the classic pat on the back is now often verboten.

Does some of this make absolute sense? Yes. Does some of it make you wish for the “good” old days? Yep.