When we choose to be followers instead of thinkers, our children will follow

 Not once, not twice, but somewhere between three and a thousand times each and every single day, someone forces unnecessary words on(to?) me. Why, you might ask, would I let this simple nuisance disturb me?

Basically, the answer would be because I doubt the intelligence and sincerity of the speaker who throws in extra words. Add to that the simple fact that the extra words are, quite frankly, difficult to swallow and darned near impossible to digest. Furthermore, I suspect the speaker is pretentious. Is he trying to impress or distract me? I ultimately become resentful of my wasted time and wish I had never stumbled across the alleged word pusher in the first place.

           If you found the first two paragraphs difficult to swallow, I apologize. I wanted to illustrate the source of my frustration. As a concession, I promise not to force had or that into any sentence they don’t belong.

This verbal phenomenon might suggest words are a likely extension in the more is better value system our society has adopted. The crawl from material to intangible seems logical considering the power given those with the largest homes, vehicles, television screens, caches of electronic gadgets, and over-priced wardrobes, and the extremes people will go to appear to own these things. Wouldn’t the person willing to forfeit peace of mind to finance material appearances be just as willing to put aside intellectual fortitude to make a show of possessing more words?

Insecurity and peer pressure, (side effects of more is better) might also account for this. Someone sees a newscaster, journalist, or pseudo-president fill their time or space with gratuitous or repeated words, and concedes to the position without question. Or believes others will accept the new trend and foregoes accuracy to fit in.

Much as the lack of funding for and political manipulation in the No Child Left Behind program annoy me, I believe social influences of greed and peer pressure are equally to blame for our society’s laziness in the quest for knowledge. Those things begin at home, not in school. I believe we teach our children how to deal with these things when we decide whether or not to buy expensive sneakers for a child who can’t walk, when we dress them in expensive clothes sporting someone else’s name instead of their own, and when we decorate their rooms and birthday parties in popular characters instead of something representing the child’s personality.

From Disney birthday cakes to extra words might seem a far stretch, but I believe it warrants consideration. Each choice we make affects our children. When we choose to be followers instead of thinkers, our children will follow.

Sandy Knauer