A Little Rant

As I age I have the irresistable urge to rant about modern life - more and more. Little things that have entered the mainstream as accepted, are driving me crazy. I've tried to postpone the rant as I know it marks me as an old fogie, but I can't help myself.

(Several years ago a wise and funny niece suggested that after a certain age, maybe around 55 or so, all fogies should be fitted with a geezer alert. You know something like those beepers on trucks and heavy equipment that announce that they are backing up. Except the old fogie alert would let everyone within hearing range that an old geezer pontification was imminent. Maybe it would sound like "Hrmmph")

So back to my rant....hrmmph, hrmmph. How and why did the F word become so common and, even, acceptable in conversations, movies, TV and books? It is a cuss word. Doesn't that mean it is not to be used in civilized conversation. But now it is everywhere. It hurts my ears! It shows a lack of respect for people within hearing distance! In movies and TV it signals a lazy writer! They use it as a short cut; the writer doesn't have to work hard at crafting a good line. just put in the F word and move on. Somehow I can't imagine Charles Dickens or Jane Austen employing such lazy artifice.

Is this laziness and lack of respect for our language a sign of a general decline in our culture? Are we really going to Hell in a handbasket? What would it hurt if we declared that the F word could only be used once an hour or 2 times in a movie? How about we institute a national cuss jar? Everytime someone drops the F word within anyone's hearing, they must pay a dollar into the cuss jar. The accumulated money would then go to pay off our national debt or pay for health care for everyone or subsidize teachers' salary? We can painlessly solve more than one problem. Cleaner air for my ears and more revenue for programs that would help everyone. Think about it.

There is so much more I could say, but my battery is running down. Next time...why is everyone screaming? What is the world coming to? Hrmmph, hrmmph!