scared of fuck
Richard Pryor died today and NPR news did a little obit piece about him during which they played some excerpts from his live performances. Pryor is known for his liberal use of profanity and also for his making fun of white people, and race relations in general. During the excerpts, he used the word "nigger" several times, as well as the words "fuck" and "motherfucker." "Nigger" was played out while the "f" words were blanked, and I was struck by the irony. The truly offensive word is allowed to bother our ears, but the word that most of us use every day is blanked out in case it may offend us.
I think people are way too sensitive to language. What is so incredibly terrible, horrifying, traumatizing about using f words? It reminds me of an incident on my home subway platform. I had just come down the stairs to the platform to see a father show his three-year-old daughter how to throw waste paper onto the train tracks. I was appalled. Littering really annoys me; there was a trashcan right there. It absolutely stunned me that the adult would be telling his daughter to kick and toss ripped-up magazine inserts onto the tracks instead of in the trashcan. I couldn't help myself and asked him, "Did you just tell your daughter to litter on the tracks?"
Naturally, he immediately got defensive and threw back at me something like "and what of it?" and "what's it to you?!" The mother, who was sitting on the bench, joined in, "Mind your own business." I said, "it IS my business, it's my fucking city too."
And I instantly knew I had lost the battle. Oh My God, she used the F word. And in front of a child. Never mind this child was being reared by people who thought it was a good learning experience to throw trash around. The father and I got into a shouting match and had to be pulled apart by other people, who, though, clearly were on his side. Perhaps it didn't help that I was the only white person on the platform. It never does.
I ended up apologizing for using bad language, and meant it. And then I heard the father muttering that he usually puts trash in the garbage and didn't know why he hadn't this time. And then the train came and everyone got into one car, and me in another.
gertrude
I think people are way too sensitive to language. What is so incredibly terrible, horrifying, traumatizing about using f words? It reminds me of an incident on my home subway platform. I had just come down the stairs to the platform to see a father show his three-year-old daughter how to throw waste paper onto the train tracks. I was appalled. Littering really annoys me; there was a trashcan right there. It absolutely stunned me that the adult would be telling his daughter to kick and toss ripped-up magazine inserts onto the tracks instead of in the trashcan. I couldn't help myself and asked him, "Did you just tell your daughter to litter on the tracks?"
Naturally, he immediately got defensive and threw back at me something like "and what of it?" and "what's it to you?!" The mother, who was sitting on the bench, joined in, "Mind your own business." I said, "it IS my business, it's my fucking city too."
And I instantly knew I had lost the battle. Oh My God, she used the F word. And in front of a child. Never mind this child was being reared by people who thought it was a good learning experience to throw trash around. The father and I got into a shouting match and had to be pulled apart by other people, who, though, clearly were on his side. Perhaps it didn't help that I was the only white person on the platform. It never does.
I ended up apologizing for using bad language, and meant it. And then I heard the father muttering that he usually puts trash in the garbage and didn't know why he hadn't this time. And then the train came and everyone got into one car, and me in another.
gertrude
posted by Gertrude at 6:29 PM
1 Comments:
"I ended up apologizing for using bad language, and meant it. And then I heard the father muttering that he usually puts trash in the garbage and didn't know why he hadn't this time. And then the train came and everyone got into one car, and me in another."
This is the best possible resolution to the conflict and makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
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