Original article can be found at The Denver Post
Originally published on June 16, 2017 By Patty Limerick
The word “inappropriate” is perishing from fatigue.
Sometimes the word heads out into the world with the mission of calling our attention to very serious matters: for instance, the way that a significant percentage of our national leaders purposefully shun the customs of respectful disagreement. While no individual or party holds a monopoly on this, the effort to respond to presidential tweets has been a principal cause of the exhaustion of the word “inappropriate,” forcing it to be ready for action at all hours of the day and night.
And sometimes “inappropriate” has been dispatched to deal with conduct that is dramatically less consequential but nonetheless unsettling: to take one weird example, the decisions made by many young men to forswear their belts and go out into the world with pants that dip downward into a zone of tension and even danger.
But before we get to feeling too sorry for this overstretched adjective, let us remind ourselves: at its best, the word “inappropriate” often functioned as a pompous, polysyllabic bog, swamped by its schoolmarm-ish tone (and, yes, I am making this critical remark with full awareness that I am a certified schoolmarm). And there is no denying that somewhere in the recent past, the poor word fell into unfortunate company, getting itself tangled up with poorly thought-out enthusiasms for squishing First Amendment rights.
No wonder this poor word is desperate for a rest.
In truth, all of us could use a break from its nattering. More important, we can take advantage of this pause to create a more varied set of tools for dealing with the burdens that currently weigh on us.
Explaining my own first choice in alternative tools requires a little reminiscing. When adults in my hometown commented on the foibles and failings of their fellow human beings, they often turned to language far more colorful and energetic than the worn-out word “inappropriate.” As I remember what I heard (often by cleverly executed eavesdropping), commentary in the days of yore often featured this phrasing: “After what that guy said (or did), you’d think he’d be struck by lightning.”
The adults who used this phrasing did not want the individuals, whose bad conduct inspired them to make this remark, to be injured. On the contrary, their invocation of lightning conveyed a wondrous hope: that these troubling and troubled souls, veering off into disturbing conduct, would receive a sharp warning, inducing them to think seriously about what they had just done and then to choose better behavior.
So here’s my invitation: let’s launch into one vast adventure in releasing the word “inappropriate” from its impossible burdens and letting it go off for a rest. Let’s take this as an opportunity to conjure up ways of saying to our fellow human beings: “Without actually being struck by lightning, you still might want to consider a wiser form of conduct, and then adopt it.”
It is not the easiest fact to remember in the middle of 2017, but human beings are miraculous creatures because we are endowed, whether by nature or by our Creator, with a breathtaking ability for honest self-examination, and for taking to heart the lessons so derived.
Given how inconsistently we embrace that ability, you’d think we’d all be struck by lightning.