Politically Correct Language

In an effort to not offend or hurt someone, we can’t tell it like it is. We need to speak in a cleaner vernacular or run the risk of getting sued, fired or both. "Happy Holidays" has replaced Merry Christmas. Children don't build a snowman anymore, they built a snowperson.

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Remember when people went to hospitals to have operations or were fired from a job? Nowadays, people don’t have operations. They have procedures. Today no one leaves their job. They separate. And if they get fired, they're terminated.

Snowman or Snowperson? You be the judge.

The need to use politically correct phrases is not a trend limited to today's society. For years people haven't been dying; they pass away.

And speaking of passing; no one farts. No one even passes gas anymore. Now people experience flatulence, which is the nice way advertisements promote medication put it. Which is sort of odd since synonyms for flatulence is pomposity and pretentiousness. Does this infer that people who fart are also a bit grandiose?

What ever happened to bums?

What ever happened to bums? Where did all the street people go? Now we have homeless people. We don’t call them panhandlers anymore.

And what about New York's Miss Subway? She was usually a secretary who dabbled in modeling or acting.

What ever happened to beards and mustaches? I don’t mean the ones on men. I’m talking about grafittii of the past when male facial hair was drawn on subway ads. Now it's usually male genetialia that are hand drawn on poster ads. Is this a sign of sickness or creativity?

Bum? Homeless?

Or Savvy Businessman?

And speaking of secretaries, what ever happened to them. We have plenty administrative assistants but few secretaries. In my church we used to have deaconesses. Now we only have deacons. Apparently it’s now politically incorrect to have or even be a deaconess. Does this line of thinking also refer to princesses?

There was a time when most independent neighborhood pharmacies provided a scale where you could weigh yourself for a penny. But such services of the past are no longer available in today's chained pharmacy stores like Rite Aid and Duane Reade. Instead, one can test your blood pressure for free. When did this switch take place? Frankly, I miss being able to weigh myself for a penny. I don't have my own scale and I’m too impatient to have to wait till my weight watchers meeting. Besides, when you get weighed in it costs a lot more then a just a penny.

Whatever happened to suntan lotion that wasn’t numbered? Will suntan lotion ever be upgraded to a new version like Microsoft programs?