Thin skins !

What a sensitive lot we have become.   The most innocent comment seems sure to upset someone and these days they are not reluctant to come forward are start bellowing to the media about the " hurt " this has caused.

Someone described government finances as " spending like drunken sailors " - and immediately the maritine industry was up in arms.    There was a logical context to that description.   Back in the days of sail,ships crews spent months at sea with no opportunity to spend their wages.   It was natural that when they made port, they craved a little excitement - and in many cases this could get out of hand.

The CEO of Myers took a drubbing from representatives of the disabled when he commented that the increased Medicare levy would take money out of the pockets of people which " would have been spent with us. "     This was a perfectly valid observation on the health of the retail industry, but critics turned it into an attack on the entire disability scheme and the people that it is designed to help.  Now there are calls for Myer to face a shopping ban - as a form of " punishment ".

General Motors copped flak for one of it's Canadian advertisements which made a light hearted reference to Chinese citizens and their habits as depicted by westerners.    The problem with humour - not everyone sees the joke !    To the dismay of the British establishment, the Queen's consort seemed to have a propensity for making what were termed " gaffes ".    Once, when inspecting a complex piece of machinery he commented that " It looked like it had been wired by an Indian electrician ",  setting off a wave of anger across the subcontinent.   On a visit to China he told a group of western students that if they stayed in China too long - " They would develop slitty eyes ".     Once again, the intellectuals of the west were appalled.

Perhaps this tendency to be " thin skinned " is more a matter of the fast developing celebrity culture.  We seem to have an ever larger number of " opinion " people sharing their views through print and electronic media, and one of the best ways to get " noticed " - is to start controversy.

This gave us the age of the "shock jocks " , and it seems that there are many more salivating at the prospect of having their name in lights - and sharing in the lifestyle that has become synonymous with the rich and famous.    Driving exotic cars - living the high life - and having the rest of us mere mortals hanging on every word from their lips !

We live in a world where the wise need to think long and hard - before they make any sort of comment !