I think I know why society is a bit screwed up – and it might have something to do with the Kardashian family and people like them. No, I am not an avid Kardashian fan. Until recently, I didn’t even know the first names of the Kardashian family members (well, except for Kim because everybody knows her). But after seeing a clip of their ridiculous show, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” I Googled them and did a bit of research.

What triggered my curiosity? Well, as I was channel surfing, I paused briefly on a segment that featured a 20-something woman shouting expletives at someone who appeared to be her mother. I later found out that woman was Kourtney Kardashian, and the woman she was screaming at was indeed her mother, Kris Jenner.

Well, I put the remote down and stared at the screen, wondering what on Earth this girl’s mother could have said to upset her so. It turns out, Kris was merely suggesting that Kourtney get married to her long-time boyfriend before voluntarily getting pregnant with her second out-of-wedlock baby. Gasp! Of course, Kourtney put Kris in her place by commanding her mother to “shut the (expletive) up!” Nice.

What planet do they live on?! Who talks to their mother like that? And, maybe worst of all, Kris didn’t seem fazed or shocked at her daughter’s language and blatant disrespect. She took it in stride.

I automatically inserted my mother and myself in this situation, and I came to a conclusion pretty quickly: grown woman or not, I would never, ever tell my mom to do such a thing. Not just because it’s rude and unnecessary, but because it would hurt my mom’s feelings. And, considering all she’s given me, she’s just about the last person in the universe I’d want to hurt.

Unfortunately, I’m sure there are plenty of “Kardashian” viewers out there who don’t share my view. Even more disturbing, think about the hordes of teen and pre-teen Kardashian fans out there who hadn’t even developed views on such things, but now, because they saw the same segment of the show that I did, think it’s probably OK and “cool” to talk to their parents that way. And the vicious cycle continues. Thanks a lot, Kardashians.

Hopefully, there are some good, responsible parents out there who will stress to their young, impressionable children that not only is it completely inappropriate to talk to your parents that way, it’s generally an all-around bad idea to take social cues from lame reality stars who are only famous for, well, being famous.