DIRTY LITTLE POTTY MOUTHS (AND MORE)
Posted by Lenny Palmer at 7/18/2007 12:46 PM and is filed under uncategorized 
DIRTY LITTLE POTTY MOUTHS (AND MORE)
Lenny Palmer
7/18/07
I live in a large apartment complex in a racially mixed neighborhood of apartments, duplexes and single-family homes, so it’s not unusual to see kids of all colors playing together on the streets and in the parks.
Which is what I observed the other day when I was out for my run/walk: brown, black and white kids on bicycles hanging on a street corner near a city park, loudly and excitedly discussing that which motivates kids and which we adults have forgotten.
Nothing unusual about that, right? And I’d normally agree, except it was not the animated conversation or children’s exuberance that caught my attention; rather, it was the language these kids, whose ages I’d estimate to be 9-13 years of age, were using. The “F” word punctuated nearly every sentence they used, male and female, black, white and brown.
“I told the “F-ing M-F-ing, as**ole to get his M-fing hands off my bike, or I’d kick his F-ing a**!” exclaimed what I considered to be the youngest of the bunch, a white kid of about nine who didn’t have the slightest clue that his language was unacceptable or offensive.
“Let’s go down to the F-ing store and get an F-ing soda,” chimed in another. They mounted their bikes and headed down the road, “F-ing” their way en masse to the neighborhood store, leaving me to wonder who parents these kids, or teaches them in the classrooms. I am not reporting on this because it is unusual behavior, but because it is now the norm to hear children of all ages and races curse like stevedores in their everyday conversation. Wait, I take that last statement back and apologize to all stevedores. I was a stevedore, and we never used foul language to the degree used by today’s kids. You cursed for emphasis, usually to punctuate a threat, and never used the "F" word as a casual adjective or adverb.
I don’t know about you, but a case of Lifebuoy to scrub out their potty mouths would have done the trick for me. But then some social savior type would have me dragged up in front of a social advocate judge who would toss me in the hoosegow for my anti-social and abusive behavior, so forget it.
By the way, if your kids speak like this, tell them to start learning how to say “You want F-ing fries with that?” That’s as far as they’re going to get in life.
Ads for Playtime?
Watching television yesterday I observed something I thought I’d never see; an ad encouraging kids to get out and play for at least one hour a day. You’ve got to be kidding, right? Kids need TV to tell them to go out and play? What’s next; ads for toilet time, something like “Have you had your bowel movement today?”
When I was growing up, they would have had to run TV ads encouraging us to come home for supper when it got dark outside. Our summers and all free time summer, fall, winter and spring were consumed by outdoor play, and wonderful games like baseball, basketball, football for the boys, double dutch and hopscotch for the girls; and dodgeball, king of the mountain, tag, sledding and snowball fights for co-ed games. We had no adult supervision: we set our own rules, picked our own sides, and yes, settled our own disputes, sometimes with fists. We kept active, and we learned how to get along with others via these strenuous games.
Nowadays though it’s different; you can’t parse out the girls from the boys, so you’ve got idiocy like co-ed football, or the complete elimination of important endeavors like king of the hill because someone might get their feelings or their behinds hurt. Aggressive games not only get kids to burn calories, but also to learn some of the hard lessons life is going to hand them: that to be king of the hill they are going to have to give it their best effort, and yes, even with that they may fail. That’s life, and also is an important lesson learned.
And what is happening to children who are denied access to these games, or force-fed drugs like Ritalin and Adderall to keep them in a sheep-like complacency? I refer you to the above “potty-mouth” missive.
When I think about this great country, and the disastrous direction in which it is heading I sometimes get the feeling that we need to tear it all down and start from the very beginning, to see if we can get it right this time.
And hey, do you want fries with that?
Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm
Did you know?
The "A Citizen's Voice" website has FREE online chat and forums, podcasts and more!
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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.
Lenny Palmer
7/18/07
I live in a large apartment complex in a racially mixed neighborhood of apartments, duplexes and single-family homes, so it’s not unusual to see kids of all colors playing together on the streets and in the parks.
Which is what I observed the other day when I was out for my run/walk: brown, black and white kids on bicycles hanging on a street corner near a city park, loudly and excitedly discussing that which motivates kids and which we adults have forgotten.
Nothing unusual about that, right? And I’d normally agree, except it was not the animated conversation or children’s exuberance that caught my attention; rather, it was the language these kids, whose ages I’d estimate to be 9-13 years of age, were using. The “F” word punctuated nearly every sentence they used, male and female, black, white and brown.
“I told the “F-ing M-F-ing, as**ole to get his M-fing hands off my bike, or I’d kick his F-ing a**!” exclaimed what I considered to be the youngest of the bunch, a white kid of about nine who didn’t have the slightest clue that his language was unacceptable or offensive.
“Let’s go down to the F-ing store and get an F-ing soda,” chimed in another. They mounted their bikes and headed down the road, “F-ing” their way en masse to the neighborhood store, leaving me to wonder who parents these kids, or teaches them in the classrooms. I am not reporting on this because it is unusual behavior, but because it is now the norm to hear children of all ages and races curse like stevedores in their everyday conversation. Wait, I take that last statement back and apologize to all stevedores. I was a stevedore, and we never used foul language to the degree used by today’s kids. You cursed for emphasis, usually to punctuate a threat, and never used the "F" word as a casual adjective or adverb.
I don’t know about you, but a case of Lifebuoy to scrub out their potty mouths would have done the trick for me. But then some social savior type would have me dragged up in front of a social advocate judge who would toss me in the hoosegow for my anti-social and abusive behavior, so forget it.
By the way, if your kids speak like this, tell them to start learning how to say “You want F-ing fries with that?” That’s as far as they’re going to get in life.
Ads for Playtime?
Watching television yesterday I observed something I thought I’d never see; an ad encouraging kids to get out and play for at least one hour a day. You’ve got to be kidding, right? Kids need TV to tell them to go out and play? What’s next; ads for toilet time, something like “Have you had your bowel movement today?”
When I was growing up, they would have had to run TV ads encouraging us to come home for supper when it got dark outside. Our summers and all free time summer, fall, winter and spring were consumed by outdoor play, and wonderful games like baseball, basketball, football for the boys, double dutch and hopscotch for the girls; and dodgeball, king of the mountain, tag, sledding and snowball fights for co-ed games. We had no adult supervision: we set our own rules, picked our own sides, and yes, settled our own disputes, sometimes with fists. We kept active, and we learned how to get along with others via these strenuous games.
Nowadays though it’s different; you can’t parse out the girls from the boys, so you’ve got idiocy like co-ed football, or the complete elimination of important endeavors like king of the hill because someone might get their feelings or their behinds hurt. Aggressive games not only get kids to burn calories, but also to learn some of the hard lessons life is going to hand them: that to be king of the hill they are going to have to give it their best effort, and yes, even with that they may fail. That’s life, and also is an important lesson learned.
And what is happening to children who are denied access to these games, or force-fed drugs like Ritalin and Adderall to keep them in a sheep-like complacency? I refer you to the above “potty-mouth” missive.
When I think about this great country, and the disastrous direction in which it is heading I sometimes get the feeling that we need to tear it all down and start from the very beginning, to see if we can get it right this time.
And hey, do you want fries with that?
Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm
Did you know?
The "A Citizen's Voice" website has FREE online chat and forums, podcasts and more!
Advertisement
This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.
I JUST got this!! And do I ever agree with you. We do need to start all over. Abolish all systems as they are now, school, welfare, immigration, etc. And start from scratch. Potty mouths, gun-toting gang bangers who still need babysitters, and yes the drugged. Give the parenting back to the parents,and the country back to the people!!!!
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Lenny:
Spend an hour or two in the general reception area at the job center and you will know where these children learned their vocabulary.
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Amen, to Lynnette. Thank you for the laughs, and agree with you completely. My brother and sisters came in from playing outside b4 my mom got home from work, and after when she would take a nap. Summer was for outside fun. Except for me I had to clean their mess being the oldest of girl sibling. Even my husband wonders where these days went. Lost and far gone, now just memories.
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Let's face it folks, we could abolish all of the things we wanted but it wouldn't change anything. The "modern" parent would still clad their child with helmet, pads and full body armor for a walk to the mailbox until they reach teen years when they're emotionaly abandoned. The touchy-feely ones would still "protect" their child until the kid regresses into his own cyber world out of frustration. I too remember the softball in the streets, Lenny, I'm a year behind you in age. If the "modern" parents actually knew how we amused ourselves as kids they would be horrified. How did we ever survive? By their logic we should have all been dead by the age of ten.
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I would like the SUPER-SIZE fries Lenny.
Kids today have no direction,they hide behind there parents who will at the drop of a hat protect every little move they make.My child would never do that,Yea ok, I'm sure that they wouldn't.
Maybe just maybe if parents would STOP,Look and listen to their children they would relize that the Little angel is really just a Monster.
That includes my kids as well.
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Look at the role models of these kids. Now I'm not generally the type of person that puts the blame on tv, music, or god forbid....radio for their behavior. But for crying out loud, have you seen MTV in the last ten years?! It's all the language that you have been referring to. What's even worse is the fact that 90% of it isn't even music, it's reality tv.
Obviously the parents can do something about this. For example, limit the amount of tv kids can watch. But don't you think tv networks can be a little more responsible and find better programming than "Pimp My Ride"?
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Lenny,
I agree with you, and Bill Cosby, that kids do not understand the importance of sounding intelligent and respecting themselves as well as others.
However, I seem to recall that it was your generation that rioted and looted most of the major cities 40 years ago!
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Hi Lenny, from what I see this problem starts with the parents. I see many parents who have no idea that this type of language is unacceptable. Unfortunately for me, I live next door to such a family and at any time, day or night, we are tormented by such language from all members for the family (ages 12 - 48). For some reason, people have decided as of late, that there no longer is a need for acceptable behavior, acceptable language, acceptable clothing, acceptable anything. It's all about me - and nobody else has the right or authority to criticize what I do no matter how offensive.
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I think my parents used Dove soap and even today I still say heck, darn, shucks as we were not allowed to swear at home. We seemed to pick up any 'foul' language at school or when 'hangin' out with friends.
Another place where language has changed today is in movies and even on TV. I don't know if it Would it be too 'square' to say heck, shucks or darn, but hearing these words would certainly be more comforting to my ears. Can't you guess that I come from the generation when playing kick the can was not a game where we chugged a beer and kicked it down the road. And THAT is a different story .... more from across the ocean another time and I don't give a darn ... Shucks, I had a good time writing this and heck if I truly know what I just wrote. LOL
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