Thank all of you. You have told me what I needed to hear. I too do not believe there is ever a correct time to intentionally hurt, demean, or degrade anyone. HB, in the post you closed I honestly sat for several minutes before I replied because I didn't know whether to cry for those two women or laugh because I was thinking Lucy and Ethel. If I could go back, I would not make a comment at all, I can't, but I know in my heart I did not mean to give or show any disrespect. RomWrtrGirl, thank you. You said so articulately what I could not.
To me, PC is Government speak for BS. Telling you what you want to hear, not wanting to offend anyone. A true apology is heart-felt.
I'm late in responding, but if you believe in your heart that what you are doing is right, then you should most definitely stand firm. If you apologize, that (for some) indicates that you perhaps have doubts about your decision or how you expressed your opinion. After all, you CANNOT please all of the people all of the time, and if anyone at this point in life attempts to try, they'll easily run themselves into bad health! Being politically correct, in my opinion, is a horse of an entirely different color and is practiced almost ad nauseum.
I think the crux of the problem is when we allow PC be the "reason" for our apologies and any subsequent failures in our standing up for the courage of our convictions. I tend not to see nearly as much gray as some appearantly. While I don't usually go out of my way to offend someone, I also don't place nearly as much concern to it as many. If my saying something offends someone because of some PC reason I don't cotton to in the first place, so be it, I'm not apolojizing, period. More than once I've taken the route of intentionally smiting someone when I felt their beliefs or actions was meant to take advantage of this growing PC mentality because they feel playing the "victim card", much like the race card gains them an advantage. This card mentality doesn't work with me. I don't bite on the card, I use it as a club. But then again, unlike many, I don't back away from confrontation. I fail to see where it's my job not to offend someone and if that's what they expect, they better go talk to their mama instead. Rarely will I be the one placing me in that position and only if I feel I've been bitten by the stupid bug will I offer an apology. Sharkey hit it on the head in the areas we need to guard against and mallard elequently expressed the reason why.
