By what you say

How will people remember you, perhaps, they will remember you by what you said, rather than what you did.

Thinking back a few weeks, my son told me that someone in the family introduced herself to him while he was working, and asked me if I remembered her. She was a cousin to my first husband, who I have not seen for many years. Back then, families were raised in the same neighborhood, and she remembered his dad well. We chuckled about the language that was used at the time, as they called people by pronouns like, Mac and Pal. Swear words braced the air regularly, leaving one shocked as to where a young child who attended Catholic school, could have acquired such language and get away with it. I recall him saying the nuns were F'n penguins and that, was when he was being kind. Could be a hint a relationship gone wrong. Maybe he got his knuckles whacked repeatedly because of his language. He knew every French swear ever created, and it did not come from his parents.

The point is, we are often judged by what we say and it is often what you said that is what someone will remember about you many years later. I still hear my mother and father's voices and their sayings which still ring clearly in my head to this very day.

The word is a powerful medium. My sons, even at a very young age, could repeat slogans that they heard in commercials and favorite movies and shows that they viewed on television. Even, perhaps, before they even understood what it meant, they were hooked.

My daughter-in-law and son guard their children from hearing words that they don't want them to repeat. Today, there is so much filthy language around you have to be careful where you take your children, at the risk of what they might hear, especially from other children. I call it "noise pollution."

Our society is falling fast when we allow "pollutants" to enter into our livingroom by our entertainment systems. One moment is all it can take to pollute the innocent mind. Once it is out, it may repeated. Mommy what is....blank? Words become visuals.

What we see and hear on television sets the moral climate of our existance, and there is no turning back. Over the years, producers have taken liberties, to promote that which gets noticed, (good or bad), there it is. Much that was not permissible years ago, now is flaunted shamelessly, without notice, in front of our faces. If you see it enough, after a while, it becomes acceptable and permissable, right or wrong. Victoria's secret is no secret anymore.

What do children hear and see in your home? Visuals are powerful messages, or sponsors would not be spending the time and money "to entice you" to look at them. What is the message? You need me, you want me, you've got to have me. We've all seen this, --children playing away from television, (having an open ear), will run to see certain ads or programs when hearing "catch sounds."

Yesterday, I learned about a show, which some call funny, humor which I find objectionable, and certainly not what I would consider a show for children. Yet, a child will be made to say words that children should not be saying at all, never mind in front of a television camera. It is said that children should be seen and not heard. That is a thing of the past. Children should be heard, and what comes out of their mouth is vitally important to their moral character, yours and others. What is important is the moral character of our children and young adults. What is important is the word, RESPECT. What are teaching our children?

What you see is what you get. Put a stop to it now, or who knows what is coming down the tubes tomorrow. Tell the sponsors that we will not support any company who participates in the demoralization of our children, family, and country. Do not wait until this plaque comes upon us, dealing with consequenses after the fact. Nip it in the bud now. In the words of one of my favorite hosts, "wise up."

What you say, how and when you say it .....does matter! We need new voices in America, ones that will stand up for decency and for a better tomorrow-- for us, and future generations to come.