{"id":8643,"date":"2016-10-26T06:00:18","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T10:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=8643"},"modified":"2016-10-26T06:52:01","modified_gmt":"2016-10-26T10:52:01","slug":"losing-common-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/10\/losing-common-sense.html","title":{"rendered":"Please, Bring Back Common Sense"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-8647\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2016\/10\/upset-534103_1920-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"upset-534103_1920\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/>Americans are losing their common sense. We are becoming offended by almost anything. Here is the latest thing\u00a0that simply defies reality.<\/p>\n<p>Students at University of California Fullerton were asked to provide a list of\u00a0&#8220;inappropriate&#8221; words because they are too gendered. Too gendered? I don&#8217;t even understand the assignment.\u00a0What does it mean to be &#8220;too gendered?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For example, the word &#8220;secretary&#8221; is on the list. Help me see the gender in that word! A secretary can be male or female. The word is not biased, but since the Cal students think it is, put it on the list. It&#8217;s all about what we feel to be true!<\/p>\n<p>Miss or Mrs are problematic too. Apparently distinguishing your marital status is inappropriate. It is too exclusive. Look, if someone doesn&#8217;t want their marital status identified, they can go with &#8220;Ms.&#8221; But don&#8217;t tell my kids they can&#8217;t call the neighbor, Mrs. Smith. Actually, Mrs. Smith was offended by Ms. Smith!!!<\/p>\n<p>The use of &#8220;guys&#8221; made the list. \u00a0I grew up in the north where everyone refers to &#8220;guys&#8221; as gender neutral. So who decided it only meant guys?\u00a0People (the more correct term) who use &#8220;guys&#8221; did not have a gender in mind&#8211;until now. You people decided this, not the north!<\/p>\n<p>And seriously, &#8220;man the desk&#8221; should be replaced with &#8220;staff the desk!&#8221; Imagine this conversation&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hey, I am leaving to use the restroom, would you please staff the desk.&#8221;\u00a0&#8220;How do I do that?&#8221; &#8220;You know, staff it.&#8221; &#8220;You mean hire someone?&#8221; &#8220;No, man it, but not necessarily with a man. Maybe a man, but it could be a woman. So don&#8217;t say man. &#8220;And don&#8217;t say &#8220;he&#8221; or &#8220;she&#8221; either&#8211;make sure you say &#8216;they.&#8221; &#8220;So I need more than one person?&#8221;\u00a0&#8220;No just get one person!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>New level of absurdity for sure. Do not write me and tell me how insensitive I am because I am not. And I do recognize the power of language in shaping opinion, but it <em>feels<\/em> like (so it must be true)\u00a0\u00a0we are looking to find offense.<\/p>\n<p>So Cal Fullerton students, I recommend you spend less time on deciding what words you <em>feel<\/em> are offensive to anyone and everyone, and actually try to learn something while in college. Perhaps a focus on resiliency is needed in order to prepare you for the real world. In the real world, people don&#8217;t spend their time and energy trying to craft a perfect sentence. In the real world, someone will slip and say, &#8220;guys!&#8221; Then what?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Americans are losing their common sense. We are becoming offended by almost anything. Here is the latest thing\u00a0that simply defies reality. Students at University of California Fullerton were asked to provide a list of\u00a0&#8220;inappropriate&#8221; words because they are too gendered. Too gendered? I don&#8217;t even understand the assignment.\u00a0What does it mean to be &#8220;too gendered?&#8221;&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[925],"tags":[3643,3644,78,1972],"class_list":["post-8643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mintle-mentions","tag-common-sense","tag-micro-aggression","tag-offense","tag-political-correctness"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Please, Bring Back Common Sense<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/10\/losing-common-sense.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Please, Bring Back Common Sense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Americans are losing their common sense. We are becoming offended by almost anything. Here is the latest thing\u00a0that simply defies reality. Students at University of California Fullerton were asked to provide a list of\u00a0&#8220;inappropriate&#8221; words because they are too gendered. Too gendered? I don&#8217;t even understand the assignment.\u00a0What does it mean to be &#8220;too gendered?&#8221;&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/10\/losing-common-sense.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-26T10:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-10-26T10:52:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2016\/10\/upset-534103_1920-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Please, Bring Back Common Sense","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/10\/losing-common-sense.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Please, Bring Back Common Sense","og_description":"Americans are losing their common sense. We are becoming offended by almost anything. Here is the latest thing\u00a0that simply defies reality. Students at University of California Fullerton were asked to provide a list of\u00a0&#8220;inappropriate&#8221; words because they are too gendered. Too gendered? 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Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. 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