Humans, as a part of their general nature, are a very trusting species. It is part of their basic nature to attempt to offer aid to those who request assistance, especially if those requests are pled with great urgency. This overall desire to help can be greatly diminished through the use of frequent false alarms and other behaviors seen as generally wasteful of a person’s time and humanitarian instincts. This lessened desire to help has been long observed within society and is the central subject of several well known parables used to instill in children the desire to be truthful when requesting the aid of others. Well known examples of some of the mechanisms used for teaching this valuable lesson come in the form of chicken little and his insistence that the sky was falling as well as the eponymous boy who called "wolf!" The widespread acceptance of this underlying lesson has been astonishingly singular in its adoption as it successfully crosses many of the barriers which all too frequently divide society (race, religion, socioeconomic class).
The general public as a whole still practices this sort of non-alarmist mentality in most all aspects of daily life. This said, the real and immediate threat associated with an undead plague striking the world does not seem to be treated with the same degree of reverence held for such big picture trivialities as fires in crowded buildings or terrorist threats. It is not uncommon to hear of someone using the phrases "the walking dead" or "zombies" to describe those who engage in any number of sorts of semi-repetitive or seemingly aimless activities. Corporate workers, substance abusers, sorority girls and the unemployed are just a few of the countless classes who have these sorts of tags applied to them within standard conversations. Make no mistake - these all-too-commonly used phrases are properly used only when describing parts of extremely alarming and potentially disastrous societal downfall. While a white collar office worker may have a somewhat mechanical day-to-day life and series of responsibilities, their existence is diametrically opposed to a risen corpse whose only purpose is flesh consumption and destruction. It is simply inexcusable for a thoughtful and genuinely concerned society to allow for the continued use of phrases and terms describing the necropalypse and any of its associated players and/or effects in any sort of playful or non-intended use. If previous human experiences have taught us anything, it is that such repeated misuse can desensitize the overall response to real and honest threats.
Such an overall shift in common vernacular is not something that can happen overnight. The effective combination of dedication and hard work can help to rid the daily language of such commonly used colloquialisms quicker than what may occur otherwise. It is exactly this sort of change that begins at home. Police yourself and your own language. If you catch yourself getting ready to take the easy road and lapse and using truly inapplicable undead-related terms to describe an event or person, pick some other words that more accurately state what you are trying to say. Take a moment to reflect on how your word choice can help perpetuate the denigration of the real threat that the true walking dead pose to each and every living human. If you are out in the public and hear someone using such offensive and hurtful terms, do not be afraid to call that person out on their misconduct. It is no time to worry about social taboos and whether or not you are embarrassing that other person. Remind them that you are asking them to change for the betterment of all mankind, not just for some sort of personal whim.
Taking an active role in changing the public’s glib and dishonest treatment of the global undead menace is an activity that every living human can participate in. Regardless of time constraints or one’s personal feelings of inadequate preparation, there are no legitimate obstacles preventing one from helping to clean up the language as a whole. It is society’s collective responsibility to make sure that the persistent lessening of the undead threat’s immediacy is stopped. A society that is more in tune with the extent and dire nature of this hazard will be better prepared to live (and thrive) in a world also occupied by zombies.
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