Casual Culture

Our society is plagued with a severe casualness. People no longer get the stare down for grocery shopping in purple sponge-bob pajama pants and a Tinkerbelle t-shirt. Observe some of these atrocities courtesy of peopleofwalmart.com...

And my personal favorite... Darth Vader's personal assistant.

Of course society will always have its weirdos.

So what happened to shirts and ties at Sunday church services? Just the other day I was reading the August edition of InStyle and something like 71% of women think a LBD (little black dress) is acceptable attire to a Black Tie event. Seriously?!?! If you're going to pay a pretty penny to attend such an event, wouldn't you want to go all out and dress to the nines?

So what brought us to this point? I can't help but think that technology has played a significant part. We've traded courtesy for convenience. In a sort of trickle down effect, its changed our way of life from what we wear to what we do in friendly company. What do you think fellow bloggers? Do you think we've relaxed too much?

On Opinion

I know I haven't written in a while and this may seem like a heavy subject to start out with, but it's been on my mind lately...

The nature of personal opinions seems to have changed in the last couple generations. From my exposure to its context in various literature, film and histories, opinion used to be given upon invitation only. Rarely do I recall an opinion being offered without solicitation first. Today, I believe, the sense of entitlement that has run amok in the younger generations of society has encouraged people to proffer their personal opinion whether it was invited or not. I am sure there are many other sociological explanations as to why and how opinions are so much more rampant in today's culture.

My particular observation comes from opinion's role in social manners and etiquette. As an example, today I was expressing to a colleague my passion for wine and personal goals to further my wine knowledge through study. He abruptly put a end to any of my desire for further conversation, when he gave his opinion that I needn't take classes to learn more about wine. Yes, there is truth in that comment, but could he not have taken the opportunity to ask further questions? Asking the question "why" would have perhaps uncovered the fact that I've already spent a great amount of time learning on my own.

There are three facets to analyzing this. First, people no longer actively engage in "giving" conversation only "taking." This blog post gives a fascinating explanation of how "giving" fosters building relationships versus "taking" as a destructive force. Second, people do not understand the consequences of their words before they speak, large or small. In this case, the fact that Thomas killed any joy in our conversation with his unthoughtful opinion resulted in a decrease in my respect for him. Other scenarios may result in injured feelings or heated debates. Third, people no longer listen attentively to each other. Listening carefully and following the natural flow of conversation is a sign of respect for the other person and their time. An individual who proffers an unwanted, or even irrelevant opinion, has signaled that they were not fully listening and thus do not respect the other individual's time or interest. Avoiding the pitfalls of unwanted opinions and narcissism will help us all become better, and perhaps, more involved conversationalists!

As for other information - I may have some news coming soon! I'm awaiting confirmation before I announce anything, so be sure to check again sometime later this week. I am very excited to share it all with you once I can! Cheers, L