I have spoken before about the "Age Of Empowerment."  Health Food afficionados Burger King recently announced that after 40 culture shaping years,  they are finally retiring their marketing slogan, "Have It Your Way."

It occurred to me that either consciously or subconsciously, this emotional Trojan Horse may have over the course of several decades helped to change our thinking and behavior.

I have bartended as a side job for 25 years now (I started when I was 6).  When I first started, people would order drinks, "let me please get a screwdriver, a rumand coke and a martini."  Over the course of time, we have somehow evolved into expecting and feeling entitled to anything we want.  Now we ask for a "vodka tonic with 3 limes, not too much ice, an extra dry, dirty martini, chilled really well with 4 olives, a bloody mary with a little extra tobasco, in a tall glass, not too much ice but make sure it's strong."

This is not so much of a complaint, but rather a recognition of a significant change in how we think.  I believe we today have this expectation that we can control everything that goes on around us.  There are certainly advantages to this (education, politics, vocation) and disadvantages as well (education, personal interaction, ordering drinks from the bartender, etc).

Burger King has now changed their slogan to "Be Your Way."  Perhaps if they really have had such influence on our culture, the next 40 years could see a significant improvement in human behavior.