It's Time We Raised the Bar

 America and Our Expectation Problem 

There are so many competing issues happening in America right now that it often becomes difficult to keep up. If you were to watch the news on a nightly basis you’d wonder how any of us have the ability to get from place to place without being carjacked, mugged or worse.

America has its fair share of problems, there’s no denying it. One problem is being overlooked by most because it’s so pervasive it’s become normal. A new normal as they say, one that’s going to be difficult to reverse without doing some serious soul searching. What is it you ask? Simply put: lowered expectations. 

Let’s start with an easy example. People, especially those younger than me I will admit, have been wearing questionable clothing to the airport for years. I began to take notice of this in the early 2000’s when I would take out of town flights for work. I wasn’t necessarily dressed up since I was headed to the hotel once I got there, but pajamas or something similar would not have been my first apparel of choice. I’m not saying we need to wear a fedora and trench coat while smoking a Pall Mall to invoke our inner Mad Men, but some semblance of care when being seen in public would be a good rule of thumb. 

Many are making an excuse that we’re simply getting over our Covid hangovers, that society needs time to adjust to the “new norm.” I couldn’t disagree more. America has been spiraling toward an epidemic of lower expectations for the past 25-30 years, perhaps longer. An argument can be made that today's societal norms are a direct result of the social upheaval experienced in the 1960s and forward. The “free” everything movements sound great in theory, but are harder to put into practice when human beings are involved. 

All of this has gotten way worse post Covid. I’ve gone to my local Wal-Mart more than I’d like to admit the past few weeks. Almost every time, the same “greeter” is standing by the metal detectors as they often do. I have “greeter” in quotes because he neither greeted me nor paid any attention to me at all. I’m not an expert on Wal-Mart job descriptions and I don’t have an employee handbook in front of me, but I’m pretty sure acknowledging my existence is part of the job. Most of the time I’ve witnessed him speaking to another co-worker. Trust me, I get the job is incredibly boring and monotonous, but nobody forces you to do a crappy job. Again, you should at least perform some form of greeting as I pass, I’d even take a head nod at this point. 

I had a plumber come to the house recently to fix a running toilet. Originally this was going to be a task I would take on myself, but my wife intervened. In retrospect, this does make sense given my handyman acumen or lack thereof. Anyway, our plumber showed up on time, was courteous and gave me a couple of options on what he could do. He provided me with price quotes and asked if we wanted him to proceed. After he was done, he asked if we needed anything else and went on his merry way. I was floored. The fact he was courteous, gave me upfront pricing and completed the job quickly and efficiently was beyond surprising to me. How sad is that? Shouldn’t this be the norm? Why am I surprised when someone does what they say they will do? 

The blight of lower expectations has found a way into our daily lives in almost every way. The majority of Americans will wake up, have an unhealthy breakfast, drink way too much coffee and pop 2-3 pills due to any number of ailments they may have. We do more to ruin our bodies before 9am than most people did all day 30 years ago. 

I’m not a Navy Seal. I don’t eat perfectly and exercise every single day of the week, but I do put my best foot forward 90% of the time. This should be the expectation and yet it’s not. Too many Americans are overweight, don’t exercise and simply don’t care about what they’re doing each day. Thankfully smoking has taken a dip over the years; however, it’s simply been replaced with vaping. I have a good rule of thumb: anything you’re ingesting into your body that can be bought at the local 7 Eleven is more than likely not good for you. 

Been to church lately? I will admit, I don’t go nearly as much as I should. Even though it’s been awhile for me, the last time I went I was surprised to see how dressed down everyone was. From shorts and t-shirts to flip flops and torn jeans, there was nothing out of bounds and all was considered acceptable. This is most likely due to the declining popularity of church. Essentially, they’ll take anyone who wants to walk through the door these days. Let’s be clear, I’m not saying everyone needs to dress in a 3 piece suit, but perhaps a little consideration as you enter the public and face your maker would be warranted and appropriate.  

Lowered expectations have found their way into our entertainment as well. What was once rated R level cursing in a show or sitcom is now considered wholly and completely appropriate for family viewing. My wife and I have the hardest time finding anything to watch with our kids because most of the material or language simply isn’t something they should be exposed to. Have we forgotten how innocent our kids are? If they turn on NBC and hear the main character say “shit” while discussing a sexual innuendo with their neighbor, I don’t think I’m an old curmudgeon when I say my 7 year old shouldn’t be hearing that. In the end, we’ve resorted to watching cooking shows as our form of family entertainment. Bonus: our girls now know how to do more than simply boil an egg, so our form of parenting is paying off. 

We’re going to get to the point where you can have full XXX love scenes on HBO and adult level comedies/dramas streaming on network TV, all in the name of progress and driving our society forward. I think it’s having the opposite effect. Exposing our kids and each other to much of the content that’s available simply isn’t healthy. As we sit there binging one show after another, eating Doritos and slurping down Coca Cola’s, the emptiness and depression of a wasted life must begin to creep in at some point.

How could I forget about the restaurants? I get it, Covid shut everything down and it's been tough to find help. I recognize the shortages and hiring issues. Even with all that, it's no excuse to either be rude or simply not care about getting an order correct. I find more often than not I receive sub par customer service while almost always receiving an incorrect order. As was the case with the plumber, I'm constantly surprised when the order is actually correct and the person serving me is both nice and courteous. This is not only sad, it's not sustainable as a country.  

Perhaps I’m wrong. Obviously there’s a majority of Americans who are satisfied living a mundane existence and treating each day with either disdain or nonchalance as though we’re all going to live forever. 

If you are what you eat, we’re a bloated and entitled country that’s simply given up on ever getting our hand out of that cookie jar or bag of chips. We need to move the needle by moving ourselves in a more positive direction and begin raising our expectations to align with the tenets of our founding fathers. 

Even portly John Adams once said: 

“Neither medicine nor diet nor anything would ever succeed with me, without exercise in open air.”

It's time we raise the bar, before the bar unceremoniously falls to the ground and our great nation along with it.