The Argentinian’s loss to Spain in the World Cup surprised many, but it was truly shocking that the losers initiated a fist fight with the winners and later turned their backs toward the Spanish team during the trophy ceremony.
We then witnessed further incivility. The president of the United States refused to gracefully leave the winners’ stage while the Spanish players were posing for their victory photo.
Is good sportsmanship a thing of the past? Why are simple kindness, courtesy and respect so absent during these turbulent times?
Not too long ago I was awaiting my turn at the cash register at Smith’s. The man ahead of me turned and exclaimed: “Idiot!” I was wearing a mask due to my husband’s immunocompromised condition. Was I the idiot?
A week later, a woman in that same grocery store thanked me for wearing a mask. She told me that her husband, while recently shopping in that same store, had been ridiculed for wearing a mask. His response: “I’m a physician who just left treating COVID patients on ventilators in the ICU. Would you like me to remove my mask and cough on you?”
The newsletter “Your Local Epidemiologist,” recently noted that COVID-19 is “starting to stir, just as it does every summer around mid-July.” A map of the U.S. indicates that Utah is among the states where COVID is once again active and the number of cases is growing.
Uncivil, brash, insulting and angry voices are too often encountered, even locally. Political division is one factor issuing in such negative behavior. Young, old and the middle aged experience cost of living increases, witness the government requesting billions of dollars to expand the war in Iran, witness billions in taxpayer dollars being spent on vanity projects, etc.
Patience with ourselves and civility toward others would do much to reestablish our sense of community.
Claire Bjelland, Salt Lake City