Respect. It is something that has seemed to have gone by the wayside and isn't really shown too much nowadays. Respect by definition means, "A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements." But often times, respect is just as simple as being kind to somebody, even if you don't think too highly of them, but just being respectful. For example, if somebody you didn't like had a relative who passed away, then it would be respectful of you to talk to them and say, "I'm sorry for your loss." I see disrespect everyday from different people, even those closest to me. I always pride myself on being a respectful person, even to those I don't really like or think of them as good people.

In America, we are seemingly more polarized than ever. Republican supporters and Democratic supporters will constantly belittle each other, such as calling each other "ignorant" and "stupid." A lot of Atheists tend to disrespect religious people because of their beliefs, yet complain when religious people put down atheist people. All of this is very hypocritical. According to Luke 6:31 of the Bible, it says, "Do to others as you would have them do to you." Have we really gone that far backwards as a society?

I especially notice a lack of generational respect, which goes both ways. I notice a lot of millennial kids of my generation will often take older generations for granted. But it ends up working the other way as well as I see many people of the Baby-Boomer generation seemingly give no care to people of younger generations.

At the end of the day, we are all people at the core and we strive for the same common goal, which is to forward and progress the human race. I have had many disagreements with people, but a matter of opinion doesn't make me not respect a person. What makes me not respect a person is how they act in their daily life. If they display characteristics such as pettiness or treating restaurant staff rudely, then I will probably lose respect for you.

All in all, I am always optimistic when I see people like this, thinking that the person will change, but everyday, people seem to make it harder for me to believe in them.