My husband does not suffer from this condition.
Brian has been trained (that whole journalist thing) to choose his words carefully and to remember that "the mic is always live".
He learned this years ago when we lived in Montreal and he was working for a now-defunct radio station. One day in the newsroom, the anchor read out the news as he normally did. On this particular afternoon, once the newscast was done, he sat back in his chair, and let out a stream of profanities, at which several of his coworkers laughed (my husband not one of them). Suddenly, the manager's door opened, and out stormed a very unhappy looking man.
"You should always remember," he sternly informed the newsroom. "The mic is always live."
Phone line after phone line lit up with angry listeners who had heard the blue words and the newscaster in question was made to apologize on air for his inappropriate behaviour.
"Bah," I thought, when Brian told me what had happened. "Who cares? Is this really what people are worried about? With everything else going on in the world?"
An attitude I maintained for nearly 13 years...until I heard the same words that I have used repeatedly coming out of my now 14 year old's mouth...
Shocked? Yes. Should I have been? No, obviously not. But somehow, it did not occur to me that the language that I used (especially when something annoyed me-which, let's face it, is frequently)would come back to bite me in the proverbial butt.
For the last few years, I have been listening to my children point out when someone else (usually in a movie or on a tv show) "takes the name of the Lord in vain"...their words, not mine...and surprisingly, not the curse words I generally choose...and I've been telling them, "yes, they did, try to let it go, not everyone has the same beliefs that we do..."
Ai-yai-yai...is that not the pot calling the kettle black?
My kids hate it when I curse. And yet, I've continued doing it, telling them, as my father always used to say to my brother and sisters and I, "Do as I say, not as I do..."
And then last Saturday, when my in-laws were in town visiting, the adults went out to dinner, leaving the children at home for a couple of hours (we have two kids who are old enough to babysit, so no comments about how-could-you-leave-them-alone please and thank you). When we came home to find the house still standing and that no blood had been shed, we were pleasantly surprised and grateful that we had been able to enjoy our dinner without incident.
Until the three younger children spilled the beans that the oldest had told them all to go "f*&% themselves" because they didn't want to watch Dr. Who with him.
And then came this kicker: "What? Mama uses the f word all the time!"
Well, no, no I don't, but clearly I have used it far more often than I think...
And so, in the interest of being a better person (and trying to set an example for the little people who are so obviously paying attention to every. single. thing. I. say. or. do.), I am trying not to swear.
As I have said to the children, I am supposedly highly educated and really should know better and so I will keep trying to be better than I have been when it comes to the English language.
But you know what? It's an effing hard habit to break...like most bad habits...and it's one day at a time...
Is there a 12 step program for this?
I didn't think so...sigh...
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