Swearing in public, on TV, and just about everywhere has finally reached a boiling point as far as I'm concerned. I don't think of myself as a "prude" even though I do my best to keep my tongue under control. I DO actually like swearing in movies, some movies just wouldn't be the same if the stars didn't cuss a bit (but I am trying really hard to not watch those movies anymore!).
Heck, I've even let an expletive fly in a moment of weakness, like when I hit my thumb with a hammer or some similar circumstance, but even those incidences are few and far between.
What bothers me is the pervasive use of vulgarities that has become so commonplace it seems most people not only don't seem to notice, some even condone it! Most reality TV shows have more "bleeping" than actual dialogue it seems. I have included a link to "Hell's Kitchen", one my wife's favorite shows. I don't enjoy it for many reasons, not the least of which is the language used by both the star, Gordon Ramsey, and the contestants. Please be aware that even though MOST of the bad language is edited, there are still a few words that made it through. The Best of Gordon Ramsay from Hell's Kitchen Series 3
My final straw came today in the grocery store. There was a woman pushing her shopping cart with a little girl in it that I estimate was no more than two years old. The little girl was holding something the woman had place in the cart, and the woman was obviously not happy about it. She literally yelled at the the little girl, "If you open that I'll pull you out that cart and whip your a$$ right here!". I gave her a dirty look, and that's really all I could do since she didn't actually hit the child in front of me.
Then, to add one more straw to the camel's back (as in the straw that broke the camel's back), as I was sitting in the back yard this evening grilling some burgers for dinner, I could hear from the front of the condo where we are living a father yelling at someone, I think it may have been his nine year old son and seven year old daughter. While I couldn't make out everything that was said, I know I heard "mother f-er" several times. It was loud and in the common area of the homes here, it echoed and made it sound even louder. This person obviously didn't care about anyone else, the kids or adults that might object to this language. I think he is just so desensitized to this vulgar way of communicating that he doesn't even notice it... but I did and I know my kids and wife did too.
I think George Washington may have said it best: "The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it."
I don't think of myself as a person of sense or character, but I really do detest the use of vulgar language in public. I hope that we as a society will elevate ourselves, in mind and speech, and stop using these coarse words.
But that's just my humble yet correct opinion.
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