September 17, 2014
by Anne Miller
Niceness. When did it die off? In the 1970s? 1980s? 1990s?
When I first started reporting courts in the late 1970s in Sydney, I would regularly see people hauled before the magistrate charged with offensive behaviour because someone (usually a police officer) had overheard them using the “f” word.
Nowadays, I’m just as likely to see someone walking through Woolies pushing a trolley with a toddler hanging off their arm wearing a T-shirt emblazoned “F#$% Off”.
One of the most popular Facebook pages is “I F#$%ing Love Science”.
Teenagers – even girls – use the “c” word in public without blinking an eye.
But niceness isn’t just about not swearing …
How about the “welcome” mat currently on sale that reads “No entry unless you’ve got a warrant”.
What a charming way to welcome guests to your home!
And then there are the bumper stickers …
A particularly gross example was on a 4WD I spotted in Kingaroy last week which read “Missing your cat? Check under my tyres”.
How hurtful for a young child to see that if they had, indeed, just lost their pet cat.
It’s not funny. It’s not necessary. It’s not nice.
And then there are all the political ones.
“F#$% Off We’re Full” or “Speak English Or P%^& Off!” instantly jump to mind.
You mighn’t like refugees or Australia’s immigration policy – or you could just be an ignorant racist prat (that’s your right), but do you have to declare war on everyone on the rear window of your SUV?
Many other bumper stickers are just in-you-face declarations of contempt for others.
How about “FIFO” (ie “Fit In Or F#$% Off”). I’m certain the mining workers out west love to see that shoved in their faces when they go shopping.
You may not think much of environmentalists, but is that any excuse to have sticker “Save the trees, mulch a greenie” on your car?
Why would you have “Protected by Smith & Wesson” on your front gate unless you do intend to shoot intruders?
Why be nasty and put a “F@#$ Your Stick Figure Family” sticker on your 4WD?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not pining for the 1950s.
And I’m all for strong political opinions and public debate. That’s what makes a democracy work.
I’m actually glad the offensive behaviour laws were updated as they were prone to abuse.
But do we really need all this agro in our faces all the time?
There’s a huge difference between “Love The Flag” (positive) and “Love It Or Leave” (ie “if you don’t love this particular flag you are a worthless piece of trash that should be deported”).
It’s not just middle class morality. It’s sanity.
Nasty, aggressive T-shirts and bumper stickers are negative. They have a negative effect on the wearer / driver and a negative effect on whoever has to view them.
Put simply, they are not nice. I could almost say, they’re un-Australian.
I’ll leave the last word to Dame Edna (with apologies for her political incorrectness):
I quite agree. Once it used to be possible to avoid this sort of thing by not frequenting certain places where it seemed to be commonplace. However now it occurs anywhere and everywhere. It is a great shame that our way of expressing ourselves in a lot of instances is to use (as the writer suggested) such negative and offensive language, signs and actions.
I was taught good language skills giving me some wonderful words not offensive to anyone. There has always been a time and place for our actions. I think this has definitely gone by the wayside. I would like to see the stickers and t-shirts displaying negative messages banned in public.