Sunday, Jun. 27, 2004 - 7:45 p.m.

Just cussin'

I very rarely cuss. I do believe in calling a spade a spade, and talk frankly if the occasion calls for it, but expletives are not a habit for me, even under my breath. That wasn't always the case. I went thru a phase when I was 16 when I used a horrible word as often as I could, where ever I could which was everywhere. Thankfully, that phase didn't last long and I hope no one is still alive who remembers me like that. Consequently, I have never thrown around much condemnation at cussers, seeing that I was much worse. I do not like bathroom oriented cuss words at all, and do not receive bathroom jokes well at all, but for the most part, I let bad words just fly by.

I was reminded of one time when I did attempt to do something about bad language around me. The incident backfired badly and has always been a source of embarrassment to recall. Yesterday, I went to the Emergency Room where 1d had gone to get treatment for a bad shoulder. She had calcific tendonitus probably brought on by all the moving she has done lately and is wearing a sling and taking anti-inflammatories for a few days. While we were there, I ran into j, a young gal that was a lab tech when I first started at the plant 10 years ago. Hers is a very interesting story to me, but the thing I remember most is my attempt to tone down her language. She and 3 other youngsters in the lab had potty mouths and their favorite was the f word. It fell out of their mouths constantly.

One morning as j and I were leaving our lab jackets in the coatroom, I remarked to her that since we were lab techs and therefore a step or two mentally ahead of common plant workers, perhaps it would be better to replace the common four letter f word for a more intellectual 8 letter word, copulate. My subtle attempt to reprove her had no effect at all. She bore me no ill-will but never ceased to use the offending word even as she moved from the lab out into the production area.

Many months later, I entered the lunch room to see her and a group of production workers gathered around a table. She looked up, gave me her usual big smile and shouted across the lunchroom.

"Hey, kdip, what was that big word for f---- that you told me about?"

The only one in the lunchroom who was the slightest bit embarrassed was me. So much for sublety.

She is a very different person from the 20 something roughneck who was about 280 pounds and 5 foot 10 tall. She got married, left the plant for a police dispatch job and went back to college. In the process she lost half her body weight and became an emergency room nurse. I didn't hear one bad word as she was cheerfully visiting with me yesterday.

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