The other day, I was hanging out with one of my friends. Her usage of bad language all the time was actually my inspiration to create Bleep!. Unfortunately, while Bleep! has reached almost 1,000 members in 31 states and 11 countries, and impacted even more, it has not really influenced this friend of mine to stop cursing. We went into my neighborhood pizza store, and after we ordered, she realized she had no money on her. She said the s word literally ten times.
Since the pizza store is close to my home and we know the people who work there, I was really embarrassed that they saw me associating with someone with such a dirty mouth. Don't get me wrong - I love this friend to death, she's my absolute best friend in the world. However, I really didn't like that she cursed so many times. Part of the Bleep! philosophy is that when you curse, it reflects poorly on your community, whether it be your religious affiliation, neighborhood, ethnicity, or circle of friends. My friend's cursing certainly did not reflect well on me. So next time you want to curse in public, think: will the people you're with be okay with it?
Hi, Talia, found my way here via one of your YouTube vids...I'm not sure that this is true-you seem to be forwarding a 'guilt by association' notion, which would be incorrect. Now it is true that other people may come to the false conclusion that you have the same tendency to swear as your friend, but this would be their mistake, wouldn't it? I myself do NOT assume that, if I see two people and one swears, both are swearers.
ReplyDeleteIt would be their mistake. However, they're still assuming it and thinking less of me. Even if they don't think I personally curse just because I hang out with this friend, the fact that I'm associating with the type of person who would curse excessively and loudly the way she did is more my worry.
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