While kids in Africa starve to death, while minorities in China are locked away in internment camps, and while gang on gang violence rips urban communities apart, some people are bold enough to face one of the BIGGEST problems facing the Western world. The use of the phrase “Hey, guys.”
Apparently, the word “guy” might offend someone because they think the word is for a group of men, and while yes the word guy does often associate to men, it doesn’t always. The obvious example is the phrase “hey, guys.”
“Hey, guys” is a common phrase to get attention from a group of people. This phrase is effective and works.
Those that live and actually interact with people probably aren’t even aware that this is a problem, but according to The Atlantic, it is. The arguments for it are all boil down to antidote fluff based on feeling and, honestly, really over thinking the phrase. Don’t people have anything better to do?
One example in the article is Brad Ward, a transgender woman that feels “pain” whenever he is included in a group that is called “guys”. That’s a level of sensitivity that wouldn’t survive five minutes in middle school, much less a stroll through the third ward. The entitlement that most certainly comes with the mindset that others must change their language to accommodate your needs is silly to me. I find it silly and pretentious in professional circles, too. But, at least there’s a reason why certain words and phrases are used. If you get offended over the word “guys”, then you take some Midol and chill for a bit.
The article also tried to make the case that “guys” could grate on women working at male-heavy companies. What the hell? It’s not like you can call them ladies and be okay because someone might get offended for something benign. But more importantly, I thought woman were supposed to be strong and independent? Are women really that fragile that the word “guy” grates on them? NO! First off, this article does not speak for all women, but #NOTALL seems to not compute. Second, the entitlement that someone deserves special treatment because they’re the one percent that gets offended by “guys” is telling of some deep seeded psychological issues. Maybe they were bullied and they want to be the word police bully. Maybe they’re an entitled brat that learned that crying over non-issues not only gets attention but leads to a change in their favor.
The article promotes words like “y’all” and “folks” and as a southern boy in Texas let me tell you somethin’. Don’t you dare appropriate my culture! I’m kidding. I think it would be funny to hear more people use those words, but it wouldn’t have the same soul. Besides, I really should be offended by this because weren’t phrases like “hey, y’all” mocked for being a southern thing, but I just don’t care.
When we reach the point in society where we’re wanting to do away with words as benign as “guys” then we need to realize we have it pretty good and need to stop manufacturing problems.
