We see a police officer bit by an unruly night club patron.
TransLink proudly proclaimed in a recent press release the incidence of bus drivers getting beat up has declined "significantly" in past months - and yet the numbers remain appalling.
Many are still forced to leave their jobs out of rational fear or because of physical injuries.
An entire public relations campaign had to be launched to keep drivers from running down flag persons directing traffic at road work projects.
Indeed, the reckless behaviour of drivers seems to know no bounds anymore.
Speeders and drunk drivers are joined on the highways and roadways by texters, tweeters, and talkers. And don't even get us started on people who seem to have made a vocation out of attacking or shaming others on Facebook and/or twitter.
A relatively new phenomenon is emerging, called "fire in the hole," which involves pulling up to a drive-through window at a fast-food restaurant and ordering a drink, which is immediately thrown back to drench the (usually) young person working at the service window. The whole thing is often recorded and proudly uploaded to the Internet for public consumption and "entertainment."
Even setting aside how dangerous all of this can be, most of us will recognize this as obviously stupid and malicious behaviour.
But it is behaviour that, for the most part, is being perpetrated by adults, or at least, by individuals of adult age.
With all of this going on, how is it possible to be surprised that bullying and general disrespect are rampant among our youngsters?
If we're ever going to clean this mess up, we have to take the broom into our own homes, and sweep out our own closets.
John F. Kennedy once noted that, "civility is not a sign of weakness."
Conversely, bullying is most assuredly not a sign of strength - not for children nor amongst adults.
