When The Abnormal Has Become Normal and the Normal has become Abnormal

I open this post with a chilling account taken directly from CBS News to illustrate how the "abnormal" has become "normal" and what used to be normal is now seen as abnormal.  Normal things such as values, respect, decency, honor, and good will that are now seen as abnormal while killing, urinating in public, bullying, disrespect,  and indecency are the "norm."  We even had a television show titled "The New Normal."  Let's take a look at the real "new normal" in our lives in 2013 according to CBS News. 

"Elliot Morales began his downfall early Saturday by urinating on the wall outside an upscale restaurant just a few blocks away from the Stonewall Inn, the site of 1969 riots that helped give rise to the modern gay-rights movement when patrons at a gay bar reacted to police harassment. 

Fifteen minutes later, Morales stands accused of shooting and killing Harlem resident Marc Carson, who did not know the alleged gunman and was walking around Greenwich Village in New York City with a companion. Police have called the act a hate crime, and it highlights a stunning rise in bias-based attacks in a city known for its diversity and progressiveness on gay issues. 

After going to the bathroom in public, Morales, 33, then went inside the restaurant and asked if someone was going to call the police about him. Police said Morales told both the bartender and the manager, "if you do call the police, I'll shoot you" and opened his sweatshirt to reveal a shoulder holster with a revolver and made anti-gay remarks, police said. Out on the street minutes later, the gunman and two others approached a 32-year-old identified by police as Harlem resident Marc Carson, and a companion. One of the three men yelled out a gay slur and asked, "What are you, gay wrestlers?" according to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. 

The two men stopped, turned and, according to Kelly, said to the group taunting them, "What did you say?" - then kept walking.

• Police call fatal NYC shooting a hate crime

"There were no words that would aggravate the situation spoken by the victims here," the commissioner said. "This fully looks to be a hate crime, a bias crime."
Two of the men kept following the victim and his companion, Kelly said, adding that witnesses saw the pair approach from behind while repeating anti-gay slurs.The gunman asked the men if they were together and when he got an affirmative answer, Kelly said, "we believe that the perpetrator says to the victim, 'Do you want to die here?'"That's when suspect produced the revolver and fired one shot into Carson's cheek, Kelly said." 

How much do you want to bet that Mr. Morales and his attorneys will do everything humanly possible to keep Mr. Morales alive even though he has just taken the life of Mr. Carson. Just watch how Mr. Morales fights to keep his life even though he has taken the life of another. What kind of mind or what kind of thinking must be going on in one to be able to take a gun and shoot at point-blank range in the face of a stranger who has done nothing to you?  What kind of people have we raised? I ask this question because I am willing to bet that this aberrant behavior did not start with Mr. Morales as an adult man. Based on what I experience and see every day, this started when he was a child, likely a toddler.

We are now living in a time where no one feels he or she has to respect anyone or anything. A life means nothing, except for when you're trying to save your own after taking someone else's. Take a couple of seconds and reread the opening line of the CBS account  where Mr. Morales urinates on the side of the wall of an upscale restaurant. I've actually seen people urinate on the side of a church. There was a time when if you did not respect any building, you respected the church. We are in the new normal.

In the new norm accounts such as these no longer even gets a head turn. Sadly we have become so accustomed to killing and shooting that it doesn't even phase us anymore. We are in the new norm. Look again in the account above and read where Mr. Morales goes inside of the bar threatening to shoot the bartender and the manager if they call the police on him for urinating outside. We are in the new norm.

I see the new norm every day as parents come in defending the blatantly wrong behavior of  children as young as six and then blaming their behavior on everyone else and everything else except the fact that the child had refused to listen to authority or instructions to begin with. I see the new norm every day as aberrant behavior is celebrated. I see the new normal all around me as pants that are designed to be worn up over the hip bone with a belt are worn hanging at the thighs exposing the better part of underwear. I see the new norm everyday as caps that are designed to be worn bill/visor front are worn flipped around, upside down and all around and those same caps not being taken off when the male wearer enters a building. I see the new norm every day as children curse out adults where in many instances the adults are their parents (the same ones who will defend their horrific behavior).

I will wager that Mr. Morales was one of the children who misbehaved as a child in school and had a parent come in and defend his wrong behavior and now look where it has lead. His urinating in public, threatening to kill anyone who may call the police on him and ultimately killing an innocent person walking along the street minding his own business.

From where I sit, the new normal is not a good thing and sadly the new normal is only getting worse. I welcome your commentary as always in the comment section of the blog and you are invited to follow me on Twitter @thinkcritical01.