http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL2313MRn1E

when I’m out in public, I do not curse or use profanity. My friend, Annie, brought her daughter-in-law to be up to KC to visit me for a few days and we had a wonderful time. However, the young lady embarrassed me constantly because everywhere we went, including a very high-call restaurant on the Plaza, she was, “Fuck this, fuck that!” where everyone could hear including people at other tables, waiters, etc., etc.

I tried to gently get her to stop but she wouldn’t.

Then she went up to a very good-looking bartender with me and Mom-in-law-to-be in tow, pointed to me and said, “We’re trying to get Aunt Patty laid.”

I ordered a double martini and gave someone else my car keys.

One night Rick comes home, and little Micah sits up and says, “Fuck you, Wick!”

I slithered home and laughed myself to sleep. My really bad.

Yep…I will fuss-n-cuss in front of my wee one…only to turn around and have to verbalize a self admonishment…Bad Nana!!!
Ava gets a kick outta my oopsies. Maybe because I admit them to her. I have always been this way once I realized how it opened up the lines of communication with my children.
I became a flawed parent. Much better than the perfect parent.

On the other hand, sometimes those same people need to be offended. That’s when I’m glad I did a hitch in the Navy.

I have, over my life, developed the ability to pretty much turn it off at will. It certain company, I can be as foul mouthed as anyone, but originally starting with my mother and father I have learned to stifle it around my family and in polite company. This skill seems to elude my adult children.

Minor oaths and curses do not count.

It all sounds great when I do it, but it sickens me to hear my kids do it.

Nevertheless, a good test of your tolerance for obscenities (I see cursing as totally different) is to listen to your kids use them.

My daughters are all adults and one of them in particular frequently uses that word. It makes me cringe and I constantly curse her for it.

It’s a no brainer to note the difference in vernacular between the blue and white collar classes. That’s not to say that some of the upper class can’t swear like drunken sailors but it’s far more likely that the working class will be prone to profanity.

I’ve been in the construction industry for over 20 years and can swear with the best of them when necessary but ‘fuck’, ‘fucking’ and ‘bullshit’ are so commonly used they’re spoken without thinking.

I worked with an older man that never swore and that always impressed me. He could express any negative emotion without using the crutch of foul speech and because of that, I had an added respect for him and tried with limited results to emulate him.

Most of my colleagues are aware of the language they use and can turn it off in situations like dinning in a nice restaurant. On the flipside, you’d see the opposite behavior in a tavern where the floor is covered in peanut shells.

But why would you want to “turn it off”?

It’s not just a matter of self-respect but one Of “class”. Class in the sense you have confidence in yourself but aren’t arrogant. You’re aware of those around you and are considerate of their possible sensibilities. In other words, you practice common courtesy. Mostly you make the people around you comfortable. You can practice speech with class whether you’re a Bill Gates type, or a struggling construction worker. It does make an impression.

Buck…I think I love you!