The New Age of Respect

The other day Audrey had been a little mouthy to her mother and Gary made her write a one page essay on respect. This was the result. Honestly. Who raised this child?

The New Age of Respect
by Fenoglio Snomander

Merriam Websters American English Dictionary refers to respect as "high or special regard," and it is the #2 definition. It is one of the most important concepts of our time. Sir Winston Merriment of the British Royalty was quoted as saying, "Respect is our biggest hope in the world, to teach our youth the sacred principle set down since Han China must be our first priority." Yet how can we hope for this, while teens everywhere are being fed endless contradictions to this principle?

I think we can all agree that respect is more than "high or special regard." Respect is to honour others by speaking kindly and gently to all. It is the language of humility and love. RESPECT is derived from the latin roots 'res' and 'pect.' 'Res' means kindness and love, 'pect' means to show towards others. Therefore, respect means to show kindness towards others. Without this, there can be no peace in the world. Yet ever since Aretha Franklin's "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" hit the stage, the word has been downcast as a simple melody, and ranked at #2. Well, it's time to start a new chapter, for people to show respect to one another! As Queen Zapidoodligits of Zimbabwe said, (translated) "Respect, deference, and the high treatment of others! Anyone who does this not, shall get their head chopped off." Bravo.

Funny girl.