Many moons ago (the 80s) I recall watching an ad on TV for Feltex Carpets.
Women were on a catwalk, modelling garments fashioned out of carpet. I thought it was quite clever and highly creative.
I also remember that a complaint, about the same ad, had been lodged with the BSA.
The objection was based on the fact that the models were wearing carpet.
To the complainant, this apparently signified that women were only fit to be trodden on.
I was gobsmacked. What sort of mind or negative thought process must a person have to even think up such things?
Thankfully, back in those days, complaints like that were few and far between ... but not so much nowadays, if anything it's become almost commonplace and it's a trend that worries me greatly ... this need to find fault and see only the negative in everything just so we can feel good bitching about it in the name of social justice.
The NZH carried a story last week about a father's post on social media. A proud-as-punch new dad celebrating and sharing the birth of his baby daughter, complete with pics.
Enter the lonely no-lifers, with nothing better to do than troll other people's posts, just looking for things to moan about.
The poor guy was all but labelled a paedophile, with some woman calling him sick for kissing his daughter on the lips.
According to this busy-body, it's just not natural.
Well, I can only speak for myself but I kissed my father on his lips until the day he died and feel blessed to have been bought up in such an openly loving family.
I wonder if a mother kissing her infant son would draw the same criticism, and what of same-sex parent and child bonding?
For a society obsessed with being PC and tolerant, how is it we are finding more and more to be intolerant of?
It's becoming increasingly difficult to do anything that doesn't cause offence to somebody, somewhere.
Look at someone the wrong way ... you're a pervert. Pat someone's knee ... you're a sexual abuser. Display some chivalry by holding a door open for a lady and you demean her by suggesting she's incapable of performing the task herself.
Dress your son in blue and buy him a truck and you force male stereotypes on him. Put your daughter in a pink frilly dress and you're robbing her of her right to be raised in a gender-neutral world.
Admire an attractive member of the opposite sex and you're guilty of sexually objectifying them. Use the wrong pronoun or call them Miss and you're accused of disrespecting their gender fluidity. Comment on religion, country of origin or skin colour ... you're labelled intolerant, a bigot or a racist.
Show one iota of support for Trump and you become part of the great "unwashed".
Seriously, it's never bloody ending!
I'm surprised it's still acceptable for women to pee sitting down. Surely, in our quest for equality, we should be demanding specially engineered urinals, so we can do it standing up ... like blokes.
I'm the first to admit that I can be negative and cynical. But this is different. I'm not actively searching for the bad. I don't deliberately set out to find fault. I'm not hellbent on bringing perceived wrongs to the attention of the world via social media, like so many appear to be today.
What the hell is wrong with us? In times when, more than ever, our kids need loving parents, we scare them off the role. We have them living in fear of bathing and changing them and openly showing affection, all to avoid the accusations of others.
The same could be said for the shortage of male teachers, even though the media stories suggest it's female teachers taking advantage of teenage male students.
The real irony though is the accusers. It's their filthy, dirty minds that draw the conclusions that many would never assume or come to.
You can email Kate at investik8@gmail.com