::Serendipity::

Do You Or Don't You? ________________________________________________________________

So I'm with Maggie at the store today and some guy in one of those electric carts was behind us with a brace on his leg and he starting tossing the "F" word around with great abandon.

"Yeah, they want an Fing lot of money for meat. G-o-d damn mother F'ers." I didn't say anything, or even give him The Look. I just turned around and looked at him pointedly. Not sneering, just a neutral expression on my face. I was trying to bring to his attention that people can hear him and I have a child with me. I guess that was enough to tick him off, because he started cussing a blue streak. Yelling. In my direction. I did turn around then and said, "You know, I'm sorry you hurt yourself, but I really wish you wouldn't use that kind of language around my daughter."

Holy crap. I wish I hadn't of said anything. If it's a couple of college kids swearing loudly, I'll mention something nicely and they will usually have the good sense to look abashed and apologize or turn red in the face and we'll all go our merry way. I'm usually pretty shy and try to avoid actual confrontation, but I really don't like it when my kids are affected by someone's rudeness. Maybe this guy was in a lot of pain, I don't know. But he read me the riot act. "This is a free G D country, and I can say whatever the F I want to. If you got a problem with it, F off, lady."

So I guess I picked the wrong guy to ask not to swear. Maggie doesn't know what the "F" word is, but that doesn't mean I want her to hear it. All she knows is that I got some cranky guy really mad at me! If I had left well enough alone, it would have been fine. She was all worried that that man was going to hurt me. Poor kid. Some mother I am! Try to stand up for my kid and end up really freaking her out.

I'm all for freedom of speech, but when should we stand up and say something when it's affecting our kids in a negative way? Where do you draw the line between freedom of speech and abusing it? Would you say something, or would you just let it slide?

This is why I hate going to the idiotic grocery store! All the nasty people.

posted by Terri at 8/20/2007 06:53:00 PM >15 comments

15 Comments:

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