Respect

There's a saying which goes 'Respect is earned, not given'. I disagree with this statement. One does not need to 'earn' our respect. We should respect everyone regardless of that person's position, gender, age, race or relation with us. Yes, that means we should be respectful towards anyone we meet, even if that person is younger than us, or is lower ranked than us in an organization. There should be no discrimination in showing our respect, as long as someone has not done anything unworthy of our respect.

This brings me to another saying, 'Respect is a privillege, not a right'.One should never take the respect shown by others for granted. A right is something that we should have, and will have. It cannot be revoked, whereas a privillege can be revoked. I am a respectful person. I respect my teaches, I respect my friends, I respect my neighbours, I respect my family. But if somebody does something which is selfish, hateful or outright idiotic, sorry, I -will- revoke my respect for that person.

I hope I've not confused anyone. What I am trying to say is, we should respect anyone and everyone, irrespective of social status, but at the same time, it is up to them to NOT do things that will cause us to lose our respect towards them. Gee, I think I've started to confuse myself. I'm so bad with words.