Why So Serious Dabblewriter?

Why So Serious Dabble Writer?

I love writing with the Dabble app. What I don't love are these censorious suggestions that I might offend someone with what I am writing.

'Young at heart' has become another phrase cautioned against by an overly cautious society. I am nearly 70 years old, but I am 'young at heart'. What this means is that I have attributes usually assigned to the physically young: resilience, enthusiasm, engagement, eagerness to try new things and being unafraid of change (though I know much younger people resistant to change, when change is the only constant in life).

It is a shame that these characteristics are normally only applied to the young, but understandable when we see the change in some people as they age. Many people my age are already, in my opinion, unfortunately, 'old at heart'.

These are the folks who say they will never travel again outside of their home base. They eschew new experiences and remain in a bubble that shrinks every day. However, If people are content and happy in these small cocoons, who am I to disparage? Nobody has the right to critique another person's lifestyle if it does not harm themselves or anyone else.

I believe, however, that this prematurely ages a person and robs them of the joy of discovering new adventures, whether that is going to a 3D movie, trying exotic food at unfamiliar restaurants, or going on road trips down unknown highways. I'm not talking about bungee jumping here or other physical dangers to someone with brittle bones and a dodgy ticker (me).

And Dabble also flagged my use of the word 'elderly' when describing a character in my novel, The Golden Ass of 1124, who is as old as dirt. It suggested the phrase 'older adult'. Are you kidding me?

Finally, this week, I described a decapitated head discovered in a bag as the head of a 'male'. Up popped another dialogue box suggesting I should use more inclusive language.

Now, who wants to be included in the description of a decapitated head? It was the head of a man. Not a woman. Not anyone from the modern world who would have been able to undergo transitioning. Not anyone but an unfortunate male in the employee of an ancient, fictional, royal household.

Seriously? Why so serious, Dabble?

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