There are only a few actions that might get a guest thrown out of Bryn Brooke Manor. Rarely has that drama arisen. See Rules of the House. Flagrant disregard of the tobacco rules, getting drunk and acting the fool, throwing a a raucous party, stealing or vandalizing. As ludicrous as it seems, we now have to add another regulation: do not spew hate speech.
During twenty years of sublime guests this has never been an issue, until we were recently shocked and revulsed by gay bashing fouling the air in our charming kitchen. We are accustomed to a civilized clientele who comport themselves with decorum, the way considerate adults do in polite society. Ignorance and bigotry is, mercifully, a rarity. That unprovoked rant insulted not only our gay friends and relations, but what Bryn Brooke represents.
We strive to make ours a respectful, gracious house, best described as hamish in Yiddish, hygge in Danish. We embody that character in our meticulous restorations, our green stewardship of the planet, our rescued pets, our tended gardens, our carefully presented food. All people are welcomed here. Unless, for the aforementioned reasons, we are given cause to rescind that welcome.
As the adage states, people are known by the company they keep. Our Christian friends will recognize Corinthians 15:33. If we allow a person to spout vile phrases without comment or action, we would be complicit, even suspected of agreeing on some level. We are not referring to argument, differences in policy, points of debate, or the Yankees vs. the Red Sox. Trash talk, those mean, hateful words aimed at a given group for some undefined reason is simply wrong. It diminishes everyone and insults the dignity of this house. If you choose to hate or denigrate gays, or women, or Hispanics, or African Americans, or leprechauns, or whomever, you won’t do it here, at least not out loud.
There have been scant regrettable instances over the years. We dismissed a housekeeper for anti-Semitic remarks, a visitor was evicted for using the n-word, a guest for being drunk and calling a female friend a “stupid bitch.” If your mastery of social interaction is that poor, stay home and rail at the television. Still, we are sympathetic to your plight. What a burden it must be to carry so much irrational hate. We hope you can jettison it, for the good of society and your own well being, but we will not be tainted in your toxic wake.
Basic civility is a fairly low bar. Youngsters master it all the time, even dogs learn acceptable behaviors from the unacceptable. Mind your manners, follow the golden rule, be a mensch, use expressions of respect, listen to Thumper and Jiminy Cricket. Right from wrong isn’t all that complicated. Anger doesn’t bestow the right to be cruel. You don’t get to vent your spleen against whole swaths of the population just because there’s a bur under your saddle or your life hasn’t turned out quite the way you planned.
At least, you don’t get to do it here.
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