R-E-S-P-E-C-T

“R-E-S-P-E-C-T… just a little bit, baby, just a little bit…”

Just a little bit of respect is all that Aretha Franklin asked for in her signature song, but it seems that today that might be a lot to ask for.

The lack of respect got to me when the baseball season began in April. I love listening to baseball games on the radio and I subscribe to a service that lets me listen to any game I want, whenever and wherever it is played. I have a couple of favorite teams, but I like listening to different broadcasters from different cities.

It started while listening to a Yankees game, and after the National Anthem was played, the announcer said, “The National Anthem was brought to you by Joe’s Car Wash”… well, it wasn’t actually Joe’s Car Wash – the exact sponsor has long been forgotten - but it occurred to me that our National Anthem had just been disrespected.

Has our corporate culture grown so crass that we have to try and increase our revenue stream by sponsoring EVERYTHING. This irritation has been further compounded since the season began. I have counted 8 other teams that also have an advertiser “bring us” the National Anthem.

Too often these days, or at least it seems so to me, that we hear the word “disrespect” used to justify all sorts of anti-social behavior. Windshields are broken, houses are egged, and people are shot…. all because the perpetrator felt they had been “disrespected”. I’ve come to believe that “disrespect” is when I am ticked at you, but have no logical reason for my anger, so I just say, “you disrespected me”… as if that is justification for any deviant behavior I chose to perform.

In a recent NBA playoff basketball game, between the Toronto Raptors and the Miami Heat, we were treated to a “double-disrespect” event. The playoff game was in Miami, and as is the usual custom, both the national anthems are played before the game. During the Canadian Anthem, Dwayne Wade, a Miami player, continued practicing layups. When informed after the game that he had disrespected the Canadian Anthem, he responded that asking him to interrupt his pre-game practice routine was “disrespecting” him. Go figure.

The ultimate “disrespect” incident, in my opinion, happened last weekend during a baseball game between the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Texas Rangers. To get the full effect of this occassion, I have to take you back to October 14^th, 2015.

It was the MLB playoffs, and the Texas Rangers were playing the Toronto Blue Jays. The 5-game series was tied; 2 wins for each team. In the 5^th and deciding game, a Toronto star, Jose Bautista, hit the game winning home run, and the Texas Rangers objected to how he flipped his bat after hitting the ball.

He just tossed it aside. He didn’t throw it AT anybody… he just flipped it off to the side. Was he supposed to gently lay it down on the ground? Anyway, I remember discussing it with several folks the next day at our local coffee shop. Most of us agreed, and granted, most of us are older citizens, that the bat flip was a “so what”. … really, no big deal. The Texas Rangers, however, shouted “DISRESPECT” from the rafters. The preponderance of sports media seemed to feel the Rangers were just sore losers.

Fast forward, to Sunday, May 15^th, 2016 -  exactly 7 months and 1 day since the “bat flip”. Toronto and Texas were playing again – in Texas – in the final game of a 3-game set. The teams had split the first two games. In the top of the 8^th inning, of game #3, Jose Bautista was leading off. Matt Bush is the Texas pitcher, and with his first pitch, he deliberately hit Bautista. Viewing the pitch, there is no doubt that it was a “pay back” pitch for flipping his bat back in October. Seven months and one day, is a long time to hold a grudge, in my opinion.

Wanting to make sure he paid back the “pay back”, Bautista, made an illegal slide going into 2^nd base to break up a double-play. This year, that kind of slide is an automatic out for Bautista, and the batter.

Not satisfied with the automatic double play as proper punishment for an illegal slide, the second baseman, Roughned Odor, decided to “pay back” the pay back slide, that was used for paying back the pay back pitch, so he sucker-punched Bautista with a jab that would make a heavyweight fighter proud. Then all hell broke loose.

 It was like little kids being unable to play well together… but these aren’t little kids – they are millionaire ball players. It’s a good thing they are paid based on their ball playing prowess, because if they were paid based on their mental maturity, they would get an annual salary of about $320 and change.

All of this came about because of the PERCEPTION that someone “disrespected” someone else.

But there is hope…. at least for me.

I saw a short segment on the national news the other night, about real respect, and I did some research to find out all about it. Here’s what I found.

Between 4 and 5 million people visit the Viet Nam Memorial in the National Mall each year. Many leave with the name of a loved one etched on a piece of paper, but many folks also leave something behind. Often it’s a childhood memento… a noted keepsake… things that meant something to the deceased service man or woman, or their loved ones.  

Each night a small cadre of National Park Service employees gather up each item, using gloved hands, and lovingly place it, if possible, in an evidence bag. Crime scene investigators would be proud.  They take everything back to a warehouse where all of it is catalogued, and filed, and permanently retained. Each note is read; each memento is documented; each item preserved as best as possible. “This has great value to the person who left it, and to their deceased loved one,” said the Park Service Ranger, “so it has value to us as well.” How long will you keep these things, asked the reporter. “Hopefully, until they turn to dust”, was the reply.

That gave me a glimmer of hope. Hope, that perhaps respect….R-E-S-P-E-C-T….  is making a comeback

Post Script. – Trivia question - What is the largest item ever left at the Viet Nam Memorial?
Answer - A Harley-Davidson motorcycle, with a license plate, “HERO”.

As I said, perhaps respect IS making a comeback.