The Your Daily Word prompt for today is EMINENT:
According to Merriam-Webster this means:
1: exhibiting eminence especially in standing above others in some quality or position : prominent
2 : standing out so as to be readily perceived or noted : conspicuous
3 : jutting out : projecting
Here’s my musing on the topic. Not really a poem, but rather an oldie’s ramble down memory lane…
Remember “buck teeth”?
Those prominent beaver-like
incisors nobody has these days
thanks to the workmanship
of orthodontists and braces?
And “Leave It To Beaver”
back before the name
became politically incorrect
or considered offensive
even though it was, sort-of,
but that was life back then.
Are you old enough to recall
scenes where and moms and dads
were considered eminently wise
and allowed to advise
their attentive offspring?
That was life back then.
Christine's Collection 
Yes, it was good. People didn’t go around getting all offended at every little thing, their feelings on their sleeves. We just paid attention to business, respected our parents, teachers, and the Law, helped out at home and felt good about being able to contribute, enjoyed our neighbors and classmates. It really was good.
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In a lot of ways life was easier. We could have been a lot kinder, especially racially. Abuses were more easily covered up. Some wives and children were seriously abused but it wasn’t discussed openly and there was often no place they could go for help.
On the other hand, as you say, you weren’t “abused” by getting teased by classmates or given an F if you didn’t know a subject well enough. School authority and the Law were respected by the majority until the 60s “anti-establishment” wave. In the US people protested Vietnam involvement, but never called Kennedy an idiot for getting involved. You didn’t publicly call your govt head ugly names ever, as I recall.
The feminist movement that was to “free” women hasn’t panned out. “Strutting your stuff” and body image is an even bigger thing now that ever. Looking back, I think women in the 50s were overall more respected than they were 30-40 years later. In schools, a lot less pressure to conform. Anorexia was unheard of; teen suicide likewise.
I know we can’t turn back the clock, but a few voices are saying, “We need to get back some of the good things we’ve lost.” The intelligensia vociferously opposes and universities ban some speakers—all in the name of freedom of speech, of course—but a few professionals are advocating a return to more solid values — and young people are listening.
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And so society always swings like a pendulum. You’ve made many good points.
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Thanks for your comments, Linda. 🙂
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I remember a time when we were a lot more intelligent, able to think and reason for ourselves, not be dictated to by a gaggle of screaming Misses in dungarees.
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There is something to the “think and reason for ourselves” angle. For all the television has been informative (sort of) Canadian media analyst Marshall McLuhan warned back in the 60s that TV would interfere with our normal understanding of the cause-and-effect sequence; that people would drift into playing roles without foreseeing the consequences of their actions.
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There was a song back then: Silence is Golden, with a line that People follow like sheep. I need say no more.
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So true. and you’ve given me an idea for a new post, a “WORD FOR TODAY.” 😉
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Happy to inspire 🙂
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Those were the days my friend! It’s about time there was a daily public announcement of the latest additions to the ‘politically incorrect’ list!
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Thanks for your vote of support, Keith.
Solomon said it best back in his proverbs: “The law of kindness is in her tongue.”
Said of a virtuous woman; applies to men as well. If this “law” would rule our remarks, wouldn’t the world be a much better place?
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