Definitions # 1

Adjective: civilised

1. Having a high state of culture and development both social and technological "terrorist acts that shocked the civilised world"


2. Marked by refinement in taste and manners

Verb: civilise

1. Teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment
 

2. Raise from a barbaric to a civilized state

I don't get it... seriously I don't get it.

Its Monday afternoon, round about 4pm-ish and I have just returned from a little errand run on the local high street (Gloucester Road). On my travels, I stopped at the post office to post a birthday card - the ordinary nature of which was disrupted by a loud voice singing in the distance. Now that in itself isn't really that unusual these days - you'd expect to come across a busker or some sort of singing troop cluttering up the pavement (only joking).

What wasn't unusual even was the fact that it came from a late-twenties-man ('Lee?') listening and dancing to music, obviously 'high' on life ('conversing' with him a little later, he definitely wasn't in his right mind - the random nature of his words was like throwing a dictionary into a shredder and watching all the words being spat out of their own volition at the other end). Incidentally, Lee was doing all of this in the middle of Gloucester Road and I do actually mean in the middle of Gloucester Road between the coming AND the oncoming traffic.

What struck me, and caused me to act after what seemed like ages but was probably only about 30 seconds, was the fact that people passed by on both sides, cars & buses passed by on both sides, maybe apathy passed by on both sides... no one did anything!!

After talking to him in the middle of the road, persuading him to go back to the pavement and convincing him that actually there are a lot of other places where he could engage in expressing himself, most of which didn't involve any traffic at all I started to think...

I thought we lived in a fairly civilised society.

Yes we are all very civil and polite when we need to be, whether that at someone's house, down the pub or at some sort of social function; serving the social etiquette is never really a problem.

However in a day and age where we are always willing to point out the inadequacies elsewhere of someone else or someone else's culture we need to carefully examine our own.

Why did no one go? Was it because Lee was off his head? Was it because he was a scary-yob-type-person? Would there have been a different reaction if it was an old lady instead ? Or a child even?

Human beings have dignity. People have dignity. But people don't always live in it. WE ALL don't always live in it.


Here's another definition for you.

Grace

–noun

1. elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action


2. a pleasing or attractive quality or endowment


3. favour or good will


4. a manifestation of favour, esp. by a superior: It was only through the dean's grace that I wasn't expelled from school


5. mercy; clemency; pardon: an act of grace


6. favour shown in granting a delay or temporary immunity


7. an allowance of time after a debt or bill has become payable granted to the debtor before suit can be brought against him or her or a penalty applied: The life insurance premium is due today, but we have 31 days' grace before the policy lapses. Compare grace period


8. Theology




• a. the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God


• b. the influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them


• c. a virtue or excellence of divine origin: the Christian graces


• d. Also called state of grace. the condition of being in God's favor or one of the elect




9. 9. moral strength: the grace to perform a duty