And in This Corner...
Good ideas are wonderful things. Thomas Edison had a good idea that morphed into a great idea and somewhere in the excess of five thousand experiments that good idea became the electric light bulb. Everybody has good ideas and sometimes someone says, "That's a really great good idea, let's do something about it!" The problem arises when that someone is a politician or someone who wants to do good. Either one of those two groups should cause the good idea person to go hide in a dark closet with a bottle of scotch until the good idea goes away.
An outstanding example of a good idea that fell into the wrong hands is Political Correctness. I first encountered Political Correctness when I was very young and made a comment to another young man who was of a different color. He discussed it with me in the schoolyard during recess and I experienced my first bloody nose. You might say the concept of Political Correctness was hammered home. It has nothing to do with Political Correctness but my next memorable bloody nose came one day when another young man implied that my mother and father indulged in "the dirty". I was offended at the concept and besides they were far too old for such disgraceful behavior, they were in their early thirties at the time. Looking back on it I really don't think they did such a thing anyway. My father was very aware of my existence and I truly believe that he didn't want to take the chance of producing another one.
One example of Political Correctness getting out of hand is a tendency for a certain segment of the female population to insure their identity by using the hyphen when they get married. Susan Smith marries John Jones and assumes the new name of Susan Smith-Jones. She does this because she wants to maintain her identity as a person, not just John's wife. Somehow she has neglected to realize that she had assumed her father's identity in the first place. Her mother was Mary Williams when she married Tom Smith, shouldn't Susan acknowledge her birthright and her mother by being Susan-Smith-Williams-Jones? What about the grandparents? Susan has two sets of grandparents and there are four names there that should be acknowledged. If Susan carries her mission of identity to a logical conclusion the act of addressing a letter to her would cause my computer to go into permanent brain lockup.
Then there is the problem of addressing a letter to someone named Susan Smith, I don't know if Susan is a Ms. or a Mrs. I have a 50-50 option of getting it wrong. In the real world it is a fact that if you are faced with a 50-50 option you have a 90% chance of getting it wrong. I don't want to call her Susan because I don't know her and this is a formal business letter. I don't want to start the letter off with "Dear Susan" which implies an assumption that we are old and dear friends. Chances are that is not the case since most business letters I write fall into the category of asking for something, begging for something, complaining about something, or just in general having a problem. I am not looking for a pen pal, I am not seeking friendship, I just need some help in a problem area and am not seeking a lifelong relationship. Besides my wife wants to know why I'm having correspondence with someone named Susan. I normally resolve the quandary by not writing the letter and letting the problem seek its own solution.
Political Correctness has produced generations that are spending their time being offended. I have forced myself to stop holding doors open for women since I have had unpleasant encounters with members of the opposite sex who feel that I have assumed they cannot open a door themselves. I have had doors held open for me no doubt because the holdee has assumed that I'm an old phart. I know I'm an old phart and I thank the person for holding the door, I don't feel offended, although I have probably offended a nearby lawyer who has just witnessed a sound case of offensive behavior in the Political Correctness arena that could enrich both of us.