Were you “outraged” by any comments, jokes or insults floating around in the media universe yesterday?  I most certainly hope you were not.  If however you were, then you missed the “National Day of No Outrage,” brought to us by comedian Bill Maher via his op-ed last week.

“Let’s have an amnesty– from the left and the right– on every made-up, fake, totally insincere, playacted hurt, insult, slight and affront. Let’s make this Sunday the National Day of No Outrage. One day a year when you will not find some tiny thing someone did or said and pretend you can barely continue functioning until they apologize.” (Bill Maher, The New York Times, March 21, 2012)

Thank you, Mr. Maher.  I could not agree with you more, except to take the practice a step or two further by instituting the same kind of national week, then even a national month, and so on and so forth until all “outrage” has been purged from everyone’s bodies!  Then maybe– just maybe– personalities can freely say what they will, offend a few viewers or listeners along the way– which is par for the course– and wake up to see another day without a big chunk of everyone’s time wasted on yet another silly, forced apology.  After all, with another nod to Maher’s reasoning, who wants to live in a society where nothing ever offends anyone?  How utterly boring!  And remember, there’s a big difference between being “offended” and being “outraged.”  Think about this.

Until this time comes, at least we have Maher’s second piece of solid, sound and refreshingly simple advice to practice daily while learning to coexist: 

“If you see or hear something you don’t like in the media, just go on with your life. Turn the page or flip the dial or pick up your roll of quarters and leave the booth.”

And that’s our coexisting opinion!