Last night I was flipping through channels when I came across Wanda Sykes stand up show. While watching the show it dawned on me just how much I hate people to cuss around me, especially women. I know I’m probably in the minority when it comes to this but I feel like there are ample ways to adequately get your point across without cussing. I understand that sometimes you may be angry (or drunk LOL) and those few words are the first ones that come to mind. What I don’t understand is why people just cuss in every single sentence. I recently had to unfollow a few people on Twitter because they even cussed in their tweets. I’ve heard people say “it slipped”, but there’s no such thing as it “slipping” when you’re typing. I received a tweet from a guy that read “D@mn shawty u thick as s#!t i kno u gotta man & s#!t but f*@ks up with me gettin the digits” Now aside from the straight ignorance in that tweet, the fact that he felt the need to cuss is what irked me.

I was once told that cussing was a sign of ignorance. It was a sign that your vocabulary wasn’t large enough to sufficiently express your point, so you resulted to the few choice words you knew. I’m not sure I completely agree with the “ignorant” statement, but I definitely understand their point.  Now I know people aren’t just going to stop cussing altogether but my friends will tell you, they can’t cuss around me. I will quickly say “ok well have a nice day” and end the phone call. One of my closest friends has the worst mouth EVER. He even cusses around his wife and mother, but he knows not to do it around me. Now if only some of my coworkers could follow the same standard. Not everyone cusses or wants to be subjected to your foul mouth. It’s one thing to cuss when you’re around people that do it, but when you’re around people that don’t, and they’ve repeatedly told you that they don’t want to hear it, censor yourself. I know that not everyone likes the same kind of music I like, so out of respect I use my headphones.  I don’t know if it’s a cultural thing or if it’s a matter of common courtesy but I for one don’t want to hear you dropping “F” bombs in every other sentence and I HATE for people to say “GD”. UUUGGGGHHHH

I must admit my freshman year in high school I did try to cuss. However, I quickly realized just how stupid I sounded. Sure, I may have thought I was being cool, but it was obvious that I was making a fool out of myself. I remember one of the drum majors saying my friends and I weren’t being lady-like after walking up on us raping “Love is Blind” by Eve.  When I asked him what was unlady- like about raping, he simply stated, “the raping isn’t the problem, guys don’t want to hear girls cussing.” Those words stuck with me and from that day on, I realized I didn’t have to cuss to fit in or to get my point across. I was smart enough to know not to cuss around a grown up, but that day I also realized that not everyone, regardless of age, wants to hear foul language. I can count on my hands how many times I’ve said a real cuss word since then. By “real” I mean I’ve said “hella” (I’m hella tired) and “bish” (bish please) No, they’re not really cuss words, but when I say “bish” I’m sure everyone knows what I’m thinking so I only say those around a select few. LOL

Anyhoo I said all that to say, if you choose to cuss, that’s on you…But just keep in mind not everyone wants to hear your foul mouth. Just because we’re the same age or social status, doesn’t mean we express ourselves in the same ways.

 ~RachelleDanielle