Forget politics and political discussions for a minute, it’s becoming more and more difficult to express one’s opinion these days without offending someone or crushing their very being.

Forget about having a thought about one of the major labor issues today. If you take one side or even question the motives of either side, you’re seen as an automatic enemy. Questioning a restaurant’s quality, change in policy, prices or service issues immediate evokes a pandemic excuse.

Everyone finds an aggrieved party who needs our defense, no matter how objectively ridiculous it is. Nobody understands why certain jobs go unfilled until they check out the deplorable wages offered. And I use “deplorable” because for years, people worked in those positions and nobody cared how poorly those people were paid.

People in the public eye (sports, entertainment and the like) are even more fragile-maybe because they possess specific talents that many of us lack. We’re even quicker to suffer with them. A fan isn’t a true fan if he or she is critical of a performer or performance. One isn’t allowed to question a player’s hustle or effort. We’re not even allowed to wonder about off-field indiscretions. Their explanations for failure are somehow more valid than those of regular folks-who continue to go to work everyday despite “big family/personal” issues. We’re also expected to respect their privacy when that courtesy isn’t afforded to the average person.

Dysfunction abounds in more organizations, companies, teams, schools and workplaces than is obvious to the casual onlooker/customer. It manifests itself in different ways. Obviously, it’s toxicity is highlighted when in the public eye.

Bringing the discussion back to baseball; it’s that point in the season when fans and maybe the media will start questioning if players are hitting walls, or if managers and coaches are managing players properly. People get really sensitive when this subject is broached. Anyone suggesting, players from past eras “did it a certain way,” are immediately criticized-even if they have the numbers to back it up.

It should be acceptable for a fan of a particular performer to suggest a specific performance in a recent movie was substandard without incurring the wrath of friend and family member. We used to be able to have different opinions about things that really didn’t matter. Now everything is an affront.

On a very local level, the dysfunction of our several sports teams (professional of all color now that college sports are no longer amateur) is overwhelming at the moment. Everybody has to tread lightly because everyone’s ego is so fragile.

The horror stories that are the Bears, Sox, Wildcats, and Bulls are obvious. The Cubs have managed to keep everything in house, but I expect that will come to an end when the season finally is over.