Kiss your mother with that mouth?

I’m not the type of girl who spews 4-letter words at the drop of a dime. Not that there is anything wrong with it, it’s just that I choose not to use them. My restraint may be due to the spanking that I received by my mom when I was 6 years old for cursing at school. Since that rather painful day, I vowed that swearing was no longer a part of my speech.

When I was in high school, my friends would always ask me why I didn’t utter obscenities like them. I felt ashamed for my goody-goody nature, so I just laughed off their bizarre question and started a new conversation. I actually felt like a freak for not swearing.

I’m grown up now and I still don’t swear (okay, sometimes in my articles I may sprinkle a few questionable words, but hey, I am only human!). Mind you, I will never tell any of my friends to refrain from swearing in front of me. Just because I don’t, does not give me the right to tell them to abstain from it as well.

However a few weeks ago, I really wanted to tell a couple of teenaged girls to stop swearing and have some common courtesy for others. This is what happened.

I was sitting on the bus, listening to my MP3 player (thank you, Christine!) when an older lady sat right beside me. I noticed that she had a very annoyed look on her face. I thought that my music was too loud, so I took off my headphones to see if it was bothering her. The older lady didn’t say anything, so I put my headphones on again. Then I noticed from the corner of my eye that her annoyed look turned into anger. I took off my MP3 player to see what the problem was.

There were 2 teenage girls sitting behind us using the foulest language ever to be heard at 8:00 a.m. in the morning. As much as it wasn’t the nicest words to hear in the morning, it didn’t completely bother me.

The older lady kept looking back at the girls to see if they would stop. They just looked at her and continued. When the older lady could not take the vulgarity anymore, she blurted out, “You have no respect” and then stormed off the bus. Unfortunately her outburst did not faze the girls as they went back to their profanity filled conversation.

I completely understand how the older passenger might have felt. I didn’t think that everyone on the bus had to hear their conversation, or have to be subjected to their language. I actually remember a time when people did not use certain words on the bus, or in any public setting, so hearing them in your face first thing in the morning can be a little off putting. This is evident with the older passenger storming off the bus.

Not to sound too prudish, but sometimes I am shocked at the way that children speak. I have witnessed many children swearing at their parents. I cannot fathom how they have the audacity to disrespect their parents in such a way. I wouldn’t even want to know what my mother would have done if I opened up my mouth and cussed her out. Let’s put it this way, the thought of disrespecting my mother would not even have entered my mind.

peace & love,

michelle