rant against swearing

I was channel-surfing last night and I came across ___________(fill in the name of the show that I never watch so I can't tell you what it's called, but I've seen previews for it and one of the main characters has really thick bottle glasses and everybody swears like crazy on this show).

It was a court-room scene, and the one guy had been told that he wasn't allowed to use profanity in the courtroom, and so he was trying to defend himself without swearing. In the end, he started to speak in his usual, customary way, and asked the judge to allow him to swear because he couldn't properly express himself without it - and therefore he would be denied his constitutional right of "freedom of expression".

It got me thinking. I am so old-fashioned that I've missed out on some huge cultural shift, where f-shots are an integral part of speech? When I was growing up, I did my fair share of swearing, but..., I knew when and where it was appropriate and when and where it wasn't. You never swore around Grandma! You never swore in public places. You swore when you were with your friends and you swore in front of your parents when you wanted to shock them or express your independence.

How did swearing become a socially-acceptable practise? I can't be the only one who wishes it were not! I just watched a few YouTube videos of a comedienne named Joanne Robertson, and she is hilarious - without once being rude, crude, or offensive in any way! Other people who have watched these clips have left comments, and I was pleased to see how many people were appreciative of the lack of swearing.

Now, this blog is called "good news", and to be honest, this rant doesn't seem to contain any good news at all. I've raised an issue and I've asked a question. Now it's up to you (to all of us) to do something about it, or not. Maybe the good news is that we have this freedom. No one forces us to watch that TV show or others like it. No one forces us to listen to our co-workers and give them our unspoken approval when they use profanity. We have the freedom to protest. We have the freedom to speak up, to speak out.

I'm leaving this one with you.