Let's talk about respect, shall we?

So.  Respect.  I say we have a little talk about it.

People always tell you to respect your elders and whatnot, which, most of the time is fine.  Ok?  Most of the time, ok.  BUT.  I don't care how much older than me someone is.  If you treat me with respect, I'll treat you with respect.  It's really that simple.  But some people, some, not all, some people seem to think that they don't have to give respect to get it in return, and I'm sorry, but it really doesn't work that way.

One group of people who I respect are teachers.  I respect them so much.  They work so hard.  They have to jump through so many hoops with the administrators and everything.  They plan lessons and teach kids who, for the most part, would give anything to not have to be there.  Good teachers care about their students so much.  I look up to my teachers.  I respect people who teach.

But there's an exception.  Listen, ok?  Just listen.  I don't care if you're a teacher, I don't care that you're old enough to be my grandfather... when you call your class stupid, when three of us go in for a meeting with you and you call us stupid, when you tell one of your students that he made a "shit-head" mistake and shouldn't even be in college... no.  Just no.  I'm sorry, but everything you do at this point just makes me lose whatever respect I might've had for you at one point.  You're a teacher.  You're supposed to teach us things.  And so a kid messed up, that's no reason to swear at him.  There's no reason for anyone to swear at anyone else.  I can't get myself to respect you.  You may be older than me.  You may be a teacher.  But I just can't respect someone like you.  You want your students to respect you?  Well, how about you earn that respect.  There's also the fact that it's known that your TAs do all your grading, and the rumor that they plan your lessons for you to teach.  You're just a figurehead, it seems.  And how can I have respect for you like that?

Now, back to respect in general.  You want it?  You have to earn it.  Treat people how you want to be treated, and they'll treat you that way back, hopefully.  You should be polite to other people.  You shouldn't call them names or swear at them.  In all honesty, the more people swear, the less respect others will have for them.  When I was a kid, my grandma told me that people who swear do it because they're not educated enough to know other words to use, and that's still what I believe to this day.  Yeah, I swear occasionally (as in hardly ever.  I think my roommate has heard me swear about 3 times the whole time we've been roommates.), but I don't swear at people.  But anyway.  Respect is something that has to be earned.  Not just given.

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