#2%&*
Tickets for potty mouths?
Fairfield Daily Republic
By Kelvin Wade | June 14, 2012
Before we scoff at the nanny-state-Massachusetts liberals trying to tell people what they can or can’t say, look at the city code of the city of Fairfield Chapter 12, section 12.3 under Disorderly Conduct. You will find that it says, “No person shall maliciously or willfully . . . use any vulgar or profane language within the presence of hearing of women or children in a loud or boisterous manner.”
That’s right. You can be cited in good ol’ Fairfield.
Now I don’t know when the last time Fairfield police cited anyone for profanity. I can’t imagine it’s been done recently (not that it hasn’t been necessary).
The American Civil Liberties Union inserted itself in the Middleborough case, claiming the Supreme Court has ruled the government cannot prohibit public speech just because it contains profanity.
But setting aside the constitutional issues and the inclination to pound one’s chest and declare rights are being violated, isn’t this really about civility? Isn’t it about being considerate? There are many things we may have a right to do, but how often do people stop and think, should they do it? I may have a right to wear a Speedo or thong on the beach but I wouldn’t want to sear that image into anyone’s head.
My parents, for the most part, didn’t use profanity and it wasn’t because they were prudes. My father was a career Navy man. There wasn’t a curse word he hadn’t heard in his 30 years in uniform. My mother would always say there is a time and a place for everything and she was right.
When did it become OK to drop F-bombs and worse in public? While I’m not offended by the individual words, it just seems something is wrong when the 9-year-old neighbor boy feels comfortable enough to yell F-bombs at his younger brother when riding their bikes by my house.
I often tell the story of the time I took my grandson Kawika to breakfast at IHOP and there was a guy a couple of tables away on a cellphone loudly describing in detail the sexual act he’d performed the night before with a woman. We weren’t in his car, at the back of a bar or in the locker room. Why would anyone think that was the time and place for that conversation? I gave him the “imminent harm” stare and he hung up the phone.
Some people don’t want to hold back anything. They think expressing fully what’s on their mind whenever and wherever is “keeping it real.” It’s keeping it real classless.
Like I’ve said, I’m no prude and no stranger to profanity. You don’t want to hear me watching a Raiders game. But that’s different from being at the library, restaurant or in a store.
So while I don’t want Fairfield’s finest to spend their time writing people citations for profanity, I would like people to be more considerate. Then again, I recently saw a post on Facebook that said, “Common sense is like deodorant. Those who need it the most never use it.”
There’s a time and place for everything. Peace.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES: Yeah, I'm not advocating the language police. Police have better things to do than write such tickets. But people should just think a little more before they speak. If I'm in a locker room, bar, Raider game or hanging out in my living room with friends I expect the language to be different than if we were in the library, supermarket or around kids. I know that for the most part, the train has left the station and people are going to continue being as obnoxious as we've grown accustom to them being. As for me, I'm not going out like that. By the way, the guy in IHOP that I referenced in the column? He was talking about how his girlfriend tasted. Is that what you want to sit and listen to with your five year old at breakfast?
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