Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

No profane words were used in the creation of this blog.

I was 14 when it really started. Today, we hear stories of 4 year old children…and ultimately their parents…reprimanded at daycare for simply repeating choice words heard at home. Maybe even played out with some body language for dramatic emphasis. Comparatively speaking, I’m a novice. In reality, my inspiration was survival.

I was driving a gravel truck working alongside grown men, a black swan trying to fit in a game of white swans (I thought it would have been flock, too). One particularly crusty old man (call him Bud for the story sake) seemed to be offended by my presence. We both had spots on our face; mine were pimples and his were basal cell carcinoma. I thought we were kindred spirits. Bud probably just smelled like spirits.

It had rained the night before and county road shoulders get soft and aren’t all accommodating for two loaded trucks passing each other. Bud crowded the crown (no center line stripe in rural Minnesota) and I got sucked in like it was quick sand. This incident triggered a stream of profanity from both drivers and my boss/father/rescuer who had to back up his loaded semi half a mile to pull me out.

I still blame Bud because even at 14, I sensed intention which he denied vehemently later when questioned by my protective boss. His disposition was vocational and mine was innocent, naive and dutiful. Frankly, I was tickled to spend time with Dad. The myth, the legend, the self-made man who seemingly willed his way through the work world. Easily the hardest working man I ever knew…and I just wanted to make him proud (Eh, Freud?).  Hard to do that from an f’n ditch.

In order to do that, I had to perform, in order to perform, I had to fit in. In order for a 14 year pimply-faced kid to fit in, I swore, like it WAS my job.

I found little empathy or humor from the gravel pit masters. So I listened, I mimicked for approval’s sake and I carved a sliver of approval by cussing like…a truck driver.

Many people are offended by the language abuse for whatever reason; preference, religion, intelligence. I recognize I leave an impression when I use it for impact, for emphasis or a throwback to playing to the crowd for approval.

In the future, I plan to watch more carefully what I say. Discretion is important to exercise when it concerns matters of the tongue. As leaders, we have a megaphone (or live mic) placed in front of us at all times, whether we see it there or not.

Have a blessed weekend!