By Jim Hagarty
This was the day I knew I worked for a good newspaper.
All the editors were called into a meeting with the owner of the small-town daily. This might have been our first and only such meeting.
The subject at hand was whether or not to use the eff word in a story on the front page of that day’s edition.
The day before, a judge had dismissed an assault charge brought by a police officer against a young man who had told the officer, during an encounter, “Fuck off, cop!” In my view, to his credit, the judge decided that the young man was not telling the policeman to do anything carnal, but instead, his words meant, “Go away, cop!” Spoken crudely, of course, in today’s vernacular, but not really meant as an assault on the officer.
You can’t walk 20 feet in my town without passing a church. We are a conservative community, plopped in the middle of a large and prosperous farming territory. To put the actual word “fuck” on our front page, might be the end of something.
But the family who owned the paper were not shrinking violets. They had voluntary banned all cigarette advertising long before our governments got involved and made it the law. In doing so, they gave up many thousands of dollars in revenue. One day, the owner banned smoking in the newsroom.
So it was that “fuck” appeared on the front page of our newspaper. We got a letter or two of protest. But there was barely a ripple. Although the owner was in no rush to see the word on the front page again.
Of the things that offend me in this life, and the list is too long, I guess, swearing is right at the bottom. I think there was a study released not long ago that said it is even good for a person to swear.
What offends me more than swearing are people who take to the ramparts and prepare for battle when they hear a bad word or two. They are welcome to their opinion, but if I was ordered by a judge to have a coffee with a swearer or a person mortally offended by swearing, I’d pick the swearer.
He may be crude and rude but probably not a judgmental prude.
Spare me five more minutes in this life in the company of one of those.
