IN THE near future, if we will ever see the near future, the whole world will fall silent. It will happen because everyone will be afraid to say whatever is in their minds for the fear of offending others. We will all shut up because what we might say may antagonize persons. We might say something insensitive that may horrify gender, age, religion, race and whatever. We will all shut up because we might be branded as racist, gender insensitive or whatever.
And it is happening right now. In one union of artists have banned the words ladies and gentlemen because they do not want to offend those who consider themselves as neither male or female. So they decided to use the term “non-binary” so as to accept all kinds of sexual orientation. So, there. Non- Binary na ha, para hindi offensive.
And then there is this. An organization of students have banned, and get this, applauding. Yup. Bawal na rin mag clap because according to them, it may cause anxiety among nervous students. Their alternative to applause is “jazz hands.” Those hands that are waved in jazz moves but it must be done in silence because of those anxious students.
In certain schools there are special rooms for students to relax and ease their hurt feelings due to their teachers scolding them.
A major foreign media outfit will no longer be using BC( Before Christ) and AD( Anno Domini) and they have decided that “Before Common Era” and “Common Era” are more appropriate.
In a certain country, Santa Claus has been banned from saying his signature “ho-ho-ho” because it sounds very close to whore and that it may offend the non-binary organic beings.
A person who was applying for a job was stunned when she was told that using ”reliable” to describe herself was inappropriate because doing so may offend lazy and incompetent people.
Some schools in the United States no longer have Christmas trees. Instead they have “holiday trees.” And in a similar note, another country has banned Easter eggs because it may offend. Instead they have called Easter eggs as “spring spheres.”
And so many others. And I will not be surprised if the beloved Disney classic film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves will be changed to Snow Caucasian and the Seven Little People. And the dwarves, err I mean little people will also have to change their names.
Bashful will become, society sensitive. Doc, medically educated gender neutral person. Sneezy, allergically sensitive non binary. You can continue with the others because honestly it is giving me a headache. Or is that term offensive also to those who do not have headaches.