Most of you remember “The Captain”…Captain Kangaroo…“The Best to You Each Morning…” sponsored by Kellogg’s, on CBS each weekday morning before school.
The late Bob Keeshan, the Captain himself, was the ultimate grandfather or favorite uncle. We loved his warm and gentle style and the values he taught us.
Keeshan was The Captain and The Captain was Keeshan.
With a risky roll of the dice by the network, Keeshan came on the air in 1955 amid the growing baby boom with an agenda of entertaining children and teaching them about life. Captain Kangaroo was a smash hit – embraced by millions of children across the country. He covered every subject imaginable – including how to treat one another. We saw in “The Captain” who Keeshan was – an advocate for children and a mentor for all of us. I still find myself practicing what Keeshan taught us.
Surely, we had to have learned something from him.
That said, it is remarkable what we’ve lost over the decades. The Captain taught us Common Decency – the art of treating one another respectfully, whether we agreed or not. This begs the question, whatever happened to respectful disagreement – a day when people could disagree with civility?
As the Captain and our adult mentors taught us long ago – we don’t have to agree on the issues – but please be respectful in our disagreements. If things got unpleasant in a classroom, we were told to go stand in the hallway or in a corner of the classroom.
Disrespect was not tolerated.
Why is it tolerated and even fashionable today to be rude and insulting? Where did this pattern of ugliness begin? It has been said fecal material rolls downhill and it does. Never have we seen it this bad and on this level. It begins at the top and in government by those who should know better. These are the people we elect to run the country, our communities, our states, and the private sector.
It is high time we took a long look at ourselves in a full-length mirror. Common Decency begins in our homes and in our families and neighborhoods. Seems we’ve taken the governor off of our mouths – that filter presented to us by our parents and teachers a lifetime ago. Where is that mouth filter we need so badly?
The path to civility begins in ourselves. What about that?
Boomer Journey... 
I had to think long and hard and bite my tongue for this one, and like you without a rant I left with only questions. Rules are meaningless. Driving, interpersonal, “anti” social media media. The general consensus seems to be “It’s my world, after all”. And I am without explanation beyond simple generalizations that don’t hold up under serious scrutiny. Not only is common decency or lacking, everyone has an excuse. The next yellow and black bumper sticker doesn’t need to say New Driver – Please Be Patient, but rather Effing Clueless – Tough Sh*t.
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Agreed Phil – it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to… Everyone must have their own way in the world we live in now. No one thinks of anyone else.
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