{"id":81840,"date":"2014-09-17T20:02:04","date_gmt":"2014-09-17T10:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=81840"},"modified":"2022-11-22T15:59:35","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T05:59:35","slug":"i-dont-need-your-aggravation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/09\/17\/i-dont-need-your-aggravation\/","title":{"rendered":"I Don’t Need Your Aggravation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>September 17, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Anne Miller<\/strong><\/p>\n

Niceness. When did it die off? In the 1970s? 1980s? 1990s?<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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”.<\/p>\n

One of the most popular Facebook pages is “I F#$%ing Love Science”.<\/p>\n

Teenagers – even girls – use the “c” word in public without blinking an eye.<\/p>\n

But niceness isn’t just about not swearing …<\/p>\n

How about the “welcome” mat currently on sale that reads “No entry unless you’ve got a warrant”.<\/p>\n

What a charming way to welcome guests to your home!<\/p>\n

And then there are the bumper stickers …<\/p>\n

A particularly gross example was on a 4WD I spotted in Kingaroy last week which read “Missing your cat? Check under my tyres”.<\/p>\n

How hurtful for a young child to see that if they had, indeed, just lost their pet cat.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s not funny. It’s not necessary. It’s not nice.<\/p>\n

And then there are all the political ones.<\/p>\n

“F#$% Off We’re Full” \u00a0or “Speak English Or P%^& Off!” instantly jump to mind.<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

Many other bumper stickers are just\u00a0in-you-face declarations of contempt for others.<\/p>\n

How about “FIFO” (ie “Fit In Or F#$% Off”). \u00a0I’m certain the mining workers out west love to see that shoved in their faces when they go shopping.<\/p>\n

You may not think much of environmentalists, but is that any excuse to have sticker “Save the trees, mulch a greenie” on your car?<\/p>\n

Why would you have “Protected by Smith & Wesson” on your front gate unless you do intend to shoot intruders?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why be nasty and put a “F@#$ Your Stick Figure Family” sticker on your 4WD?<\/p>\n

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not pining for the 1950s.<\/p>\n

And I’m all for strong political opinions and public debate. That’s what makes a democracy work.<\/p>\n

I’m actually glad the offensive behaviour laws were updated as they were prone to abuse.<\/p>\n

But do we really need all this agro in our faces all the time?<\/p>\n

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”).<\/p>\n

It’s not just middle class morality. It’s sanity.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Put simply, they are not nice. \u00a0I could almost say, they’re un-Australian.<\/p>\n

I’ll leave the last word to Dame Edna (with apologies for her political incorrectness):<\/strong><\/p>\n

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