Got two minutes, so does Dave Anderson.

Let's rant.

Welcome to the game show in your life.

I'm Dave Anderson.

It's time for our Friday. Two-minute

warning edition, posted on Fridays to give you something to think about, watch for, or to do.

Doing's great. To finish your week strong and maximize your weekend, I will also include an occasional red zone rant and hey, that happens now. Why not do one today?

Here's the topic I want to talk about. How'd we get so soft?

I'm talking about as a society. I was actually asked this question recently, and it's like,

when you start thinking about it, there are a number of ways that have added up over time to make us soft.

When I talk about soft, talking about weak, not tough, easy to offend. See, in the absence of

struggle, when things are too easy, when we don't have to fight for it, you get weak, you get

not tough, you get easy to offend. If the struggles make you stronger, then lack of struggle

would make you softer. So here are some potential decisions done over time that have made us a little bit

softer. Okay, a lot softer in some cases. One new, here's a for instance, one new

social entitlement program for the slothful are those who don't want to work, one of those

at a time. One additional censure of free speech because it offended one person at a time.

One promotion based on demographics over merit at a time. One scholarship given based on demographics

versus earning it and deserving it at a time. One participation trophy at a time. One 12th place participant's ribbon at a time. Let's reward

them for showing up, not for stepping up. One school board's decision to eliminate failing

grades or red ink because it hurts the kids' feelings at a time. One pay raise based on tenure

rather than performance at a time. One, quote, I'm going to put you in a time out, versus you're going to get a spanking

...