Ten compliments and a big ol' pile of bleh.

I saw this headline, and out of curiosity followed the link to read the article.

10 compliments your husband needs to hear

I didn't expect to be more than amused by it. As I began reading, I found the article quite compelling. As I read each compliment listed, I found myself thinking, "Yeah, I do like to hear that, even hunger for that in a way..."

Just reading them in the article was a bit of a self-esteem booster. I finished the article feeling pretty upbeat. I was also thinking that I could do a better job of complimenting my wife more frequently (Hey, it felt good! Pay it forward!).

Then I made the mistake of reading the comments. Hopefully there are more, and better comments when I read them. There were only a couple at that point. A few men crying that they never get such compliments, a few more cynical posts regarding the (perceived) worthlessness of modern men. A response post to the whiny men, inferring that women are too busy doing much more work, for much less appreciation, to take time and be appreciative of the men (I've seen a few memes carrying that same message of late). It hurt my heart to read them.

My first thought was have we become so absorbed in "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Married with Children", and etc... that we have completely absorbed them as reality? What happened to "Andy Griffith" and "The Cosby Show", how did we come to be so completely ruled by sarcasm, cynicism, selfishness and jut plain mean-ness?

My second thought was no wonder there is such a problem with cyber-bullying. They learn sarcastic and cynical from their parents. We spend hours laughing at clever insults in television comedies - That seems to be the primary content of modern comedy. we celebrate the endless stream of invectives, the more brutal, the better. How is it that we are even surprised that this is the behavior youth exhibit? Our occasional public messages against bullying are shining examples of hypocricy.

I should've stopped with the story...