In my last post I took a quick look at the relationship between tolerance and unmet expectations. When people’s expectations go unmet, sometimes, and these days it seems all the time, the person failing to live up or simply disagreeing is vilified, attacked, and characterized by such pejorative terms as bigot, racist, homophobe, redneck, or …
I’ve thought of late that both tolerance and intolerance are tied to a person’s expectations. Webster’s defines tolerance as “sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one’s own.” (Merriam-Webster, 2018) In 21st Century American society, filled with autonomously held opinions, this traditional definition of tolerance is little tolerated by the …
Expectations are everywhere! From your grandmother’s insistence that you attend church three times a week, to your own decision never to darken the church door, we all have expectations that we believe are righteous, and that we impose both on ourselves and especially on others. These expectations arise from our culture, from the duly constituted …
The peaceful, tree lined street looked like something from a Norman Rockwell painting. Not surprising for an early fall day in 1961 in the upper Midwest. In those days it wasn’t unusual for a third grader to walk to school on his own. After all, the walk wasn’t five miles up hill in both directions …
Continue reading “Unmet Expectations – Why are They so Mean?”
