A Little Kindness Goes a Long Way

Seems like there's a lot of name-calling and unpleasant things in the news recently, both here in Canada and in the U.S. So what else is new, I guess, eh?

Take the Lukinwski story that broke here yesterday. A 16-year-old video tape surfaced of a current Conservative MP. He was a politcal organizer back then and had had a few drinks one night and his uglier side showed through. Among other things, he said:

There's A's and there's B's. The A's are guys like me. The B's are homosexual faggots with dirt on their fingernails that transmit diseases.

Nice.

State-side, there's the uproar about Thomas Beatie, the female to male transgender guy who is pregnant. He's been called a lot of things, with even David Letterman labelling him an "androgynous freak show."

Makes me want to just bury my head in the sand for a while. I admit that the sight of a pregnant man gives me pause, but even today in some parts, 2 guys or 2 gals walking down the street arm in arm could and does illicit the same response.

And, while I don't want to make this another post about my mother, she always taught me to try to think before I speak. She told me that before I say something, I should put it through 3 tests: 1) Is it true? 2) Is it necessary? And 3) Is it KIND?

I sure as heck don't make the grade a lot of the time, but I don't think there's any arguing with the sentiment. I wish we could all follow these 3 simple rules for a while. The world would be a kinder place - or at least a quieter one.