astercontrol:

Whenever I see someone say “you only owe people respect if they’ve given you respect,” I wonder how this cycle is supposed to begin

If “they’ve given you respect” means “they haven’t been outright assholes to you” then I can see it, but … that’s not what is being said

Does complete lack of interaction count as respect? because that’s how all human relationships start (except maybe the relationship with the one who gave birth to you)

(and that one sure as hell did not start out showing you respect. Love, certainly, but you’d have to warp the definition of respect a whole lot for it to describe any way anyone has ever treated a baby)