Deanne's Writing World
Follow me
  • Home
  • My World - blog
    • The Daily Brat
    • My writings
    • Where I've Been
  • Untangling the Knot - Field Goal Vlog
    • Training Log
    • Sneak Peak at Untangling the Knot
    • Kicking and Patriot Photos
  • The World of my Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Molto Mayhem - Favorite Italian Recipes
    • Betting Jessica's Character World
  • Author's World
  • Contact Info

Overheard at... Starbucks

10/9/2012

0 Comments

 
Politics, politics, politics…

Perhaps I am simply paying closer attention than others, but it feels like 80% of what is being talked about everywhere I go is politics right now. Not legislating mind you…. But politics; who said what about whom or which
statements are true or false, or all about the latest gaffe a candidate has made. It is enough to drive me off TV and away from Starbucks until after the election.

In a recent phone conversation with my sister in Virginia she said it has become so bad where she lives that people answer their phones, “what do you want…” when they don’t recognize the number. Ouch.

Now more than ever we as a country should pay attention to language… as I tell my daughter all the time, words matter. And civil words matter more than most. This word civil dates back to the late 14c, originating from the Latin, civilis…

 …"relating to a citizen, relating to public life, befitting a citizen," hence "popular, affable, courteous;" alternative adjectival derivation of civis "townsman". 

The sense of "polite" was in the Latin, from the courteous manners of citizens, as opposed to those of soldiers. But English did not pick up this nuance of the word until late 16c. " (Online Etymology Dictionary Link)

It is ironic that during this time England was anything but a civil place to live. A brief overview of the 16c shows that England was at war with just about everyone… including themselves. Unable to decide if they were Catholic or Protestant, each sovereign brought in a different set of rules and beliefs and persecuted those who did not go along with it.

So, here is my question… are we in another age where the idea of civility is paramount simply for its disappearance? Fundamentalist Christians fight against radical Islamists; and those who are civil, the non-soldiers, get pulled in either direction… as if this is our only choice.  

Can we make our civil voice heard? We are: a civilization, a civilized people, civilians who believe in civil rights as part of our founding principles. Perhaps right now we should worry less about the political process and more about the process of civility.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Subscribe to my blog:

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    About Me...

    Picture

    Deanne Wilsted

    Link here to Betting Jessica on Amazon.com

    Background - Overheard While Writing
    It's hard to explain, but 12 years ago, when I started to write seriously, the only place where I could get my work done was at Starbucks. 

    Since then, 4 manuscripts and 4 favored Starbucks later, I sill find myself drawn to a cozy corner and a half-decaf Americano.... not to mention the many friendly faces that greet me when I arrive.

    And, while I try to stay focused, there are some times when the conversations or interactions that surround me draw my attention away from my own characters, and into the world of life's own characters. 

    This BLOG captures some of those funny, sincere, inspiring moments. Maybe they will give you a reason to write as well.

    Archives

    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

    Categories

    All
    4th Of July
    Agatha Christie
    Age
    Animals
    Anxiety
    Art
    Bath
    Betting Jessica
    Blogging
    Book Covers
    Books
    Boston
    Bullying
    Business
    Camp
    Change
    Charity
    Chocolate
    Christmas
    Covid
    Dessert
    Dogs
    Earthquake
    Egypt
    Emotions
    England
    E Pub
    E-pub
    Exercize
    Family
    Fiction
    Food
    Genre Fiction
    Genre Fiction
    Goals
    God
    Government
    Gratitude
    Great Books
    Happy Hour
    Harry Potter
    Hotels
    Humor
    Inspiration
    Italy
    Jane Austen
    Kids
    Lake Tahoe
    Language
    Literary Agents
    Literary Ficiton
    Literary Ficiton
    Lost Dogs
    Memorial Day
    Milestones
    Military
    Molto Mayhem
    Mommyhood
    Music
    Nolables
    Obama
    Observation
    Obstacles
    Online Saftey
    Oxfam
    Parental Controls
    Parenting
    Paris
    Pets
    Poetry
    Politics
    Portland
    Promo
    Publishing
    Reviews
    Romance
    Rules
    School
    Science
    Seasons
    Senses
    Silliness
    Small Business
    Soulmate
    Sports
    Starbucks
    Stress
    Summer
    Summer Jobs
    Talents
    Tears
    Tennis
    Travel
    Untangling The Knot
    Vikingsholm
    Weather
    Weddings
    Writing

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from DonkeyHotey, Micah Sittig, dalbera, Salim Shadid, Matthew Juzenas, Ms. Phoenix, MRBECK, miss_millions, naosuke ii, charlesdyer, lorenkerns, Vegan Photo, Bellafaye, Bahman., Corey Leopold, christopher_brown, Premnath Thirumalaisamy ~ Taking a Break, F H Mira, harrycavalcante, grongar, Montgomery Cty Division of Solid Waste Services, Francisco Antunes, cumi&ciki, frankieleon, geezaweezer, kiera.chan, pulkitsinha, optictopic, Bradley N. Weber, Probably Okay!, Monkey Mash Button, Karen Roe, toritoons, frankieleon, dharrisphotog, shawnzrossi, rfduck, ell brown, Victor Tongdee, Phillips Academy, Andover, Brandon Giesbrecht, Moyan_Brenn, Patricia Pierce, Adrian R. Tan, Chris Parker2012, pds209, gabrielsaldana, g.sighele, Kevan