Over the past several months, I have not blogged. Mainly because I was going thru some really
dark times and I felt that no one would be interested in what I had to say
during my period of discontent. But I recently
read this great diatribe written by Sean Kim (https://medium.com/life-hacking-2/46bf86584c95)
that inspired to “pick up my pen” and get back to what I like to do best J I know I have written about this type of
thing before, or at least something along the same vein, but it keeps coming
up, so I am going to have another go-round with it.
From time to time, I find myself in a verbal tete-a tete
with a friend who doesn’t like something I’ve posted on Facebook. Usually this moral uproar is over a 4-letter
word that I’ve used. And it’s usually
just one word in particular that causes the proverbial conservative to get
their panties in a twist. You know the word
I’m talking about right – cause they don’t censor any other 4-letter/vulgar words
on TV anymore, do they?
Now I have a problem with this “well-meaning” censorship
effort for several reasons. First and
foremost, let’s not forget that Facebook is supposed to be for adults. Mark Zuckerberg, the Wizard of Facebook
himself, is the first to agree with me on this count, and that’s really all the
backup to my argument that I need on this.
I also make it a personal policy not to have any friends on Facebook
that are under the age of 18 for this very reason.
More importantly, there is a reason why 4-letter words
exist. They are powerful. They express things in a way that no amount
of “fiddlesticks” or “dag nabbit” can accomplish. People pay attention when you use those
words. But when it comes right down to
it, that’s all they are – words. Our culture/society
has turned them into the “vulgar/taboo” words that they are today. If that weren’t true, they wouldn’t have the “shock
and awe” factor that they do.
Finally, the last time I checked, the Constitution had
not banned the use of any one word in particular, and was still a supporter of
a little something called “free speech.”
If you don’t like something I have to say, you are certainly well within
your rights of free speech to express your own opinion or rebuttal. However, if your only objection is to the
4-letter word I chose to use, then you really don’t have a valid argument at
all. Next!
Now you might argue that people who chose to use words
like that are revealing their uneducated ignorance. That if they possessed any amount of
intelligence at all that they wouldn’t use “that kind of language.” Wow – isn’t that original! Is that all the better that you can do? As if saying “fiddlesticks” would indicate
that I was Mensa material. Indeed.
So while I wait for my invitation to join the great minds
of our time, I will continue to speak my mind, using any words that I deem
appropriate. No apology will be issued,
just in case you were holding your breath waiting for that. I hope that if you and I find ourselves on
opposite sides of the verbal fence, we can act like adults and just “agree to
disagree.” Enough said.
Well not yet. I
will leave you with this little ditty from Cee-Lo that wouldn’t quite be the
same if he had to sing fiddlesticks.
Just try it.
“F**k You” by Cee-Lo Green http://youtu.be/pc0mxOXbWIU
There’s no soap in this dirty mouth,
Selina