i have long thought that the karate kid would have been better if macchio had not been in the cast and Elizabeth Shue had played the Karate Kid.

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Forgive me if I'm a bit behind on the thread, but ultimately you can't completely protect yourself from foul language. If you still want to, get a program like NetNanny (is that still around) or another one that will filter out "mature" language. I try not to use foul language much at all (as it diminishes the meaning of using said words) but I can't live my life being afraid that I'll offend people. Trust me, just about every word that comes out of my mouth can be offensive to someone, somewhere.

That's also true. With "political correctness" running rampant, you can't talk without offending someone.

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On this, as in many things, I find myself of two minds.

On the one hand, I utterly despise political correctness. And so I want to agree with Porforis.

On the other hand, I understand gbpfan's original request and respect it.

I think the difference, or at least part of it, between the two hands lies in the context of the concern. One case is a generalized antagonism toward giving offense. The other is a specific instance of a fellow member of a small community being bothered.

In the second case I have already made a decision that I want to associate more deeply with the members of this community. You people *matter* to me. If one of you expresses a concern with something I do, whatever your ulimate reason, and however I ultimately decide to respond, then I consider it my obligation to pay attention to your concern.

It's not so much a worry about "giving offense", as it is recognizing that community membership brings with it a responsibility for considering additional tradeoffs.

Sometimes these extra tradeoffs will chafe. Anyone who has ever lived in a small town knows that the benefits come with often substantial costs in terms of lost privacy, lost freedom to act in certain ways, etc. But if you want to continue to get those benefits, those are costs you simply have to be willing to bear. (And if the costs become too heavy to bear, then you do as I have done more than once...you move out.)

The difference between this and "political correctness" is in the enforcement of conformity.

In a true community, the respect, the attention to each other's wishes, is self-induced. It's voluntary. It's one person requesting consideration and another person deciding to give it (or not). But political correctness says "thou must". It isn't an individual request. It's a demand vague in origin. It isn't about giving consideration to a specific and acknowledged member of the same community. It's about conforming one's behavior to abstract notions of what "people" or "categories of people" should get.

In my opinion, duties of "respect" and "listening" and all the rest -- these are not duties owed to "people" or to "women" or to "men" or to any abstract categories thereof. My duties are owed to individual members of the communities I wish to be a member of, individuals like "gbpfan" and "4PackGirl" and "Porforis" and "Rourke" and "Shawn."

If one of those individuals asks me to consider something, I think I ought to give it consideration. I may still say "eff off". But I still must listen.

While a community member may not be able to protect himself or herself from language that bothers, that does not mean he or she shouldn't be able to ask fellow community members to pay attention to what bothers him or her.

Does this make any sense?

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yes it does. consideration for others is important - it's not everything but it's a crucial part of any 'relationship' you wish to maintain. i am so tired of pc stuff too & i think some people use it as an excuse far too often. either they embrace the idea of pc or oppose it so much that they become insulting asses. there has to be a happy medium.

The answer could be as simple as a filter on certain words, and have control one your account to filter them out or leave them in.

You want to curse like a sailor go ahead.. but the individual reader can simply filter it out.

It accomplishes allowing members to worry less (like it is that difficult) and the reader not have to be subjected to it if need be.

Technology can't solve all issues.. however in this medium in this case.. it simply could.

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Thanks every one I know people use the the language,and I do understand that,I also know I don't have to read and block out the stuff written in the post,not sure of filtering but can ask,I'm a grandmother so hot I'm not well maybe to my husband of 36 years,I know most of you are young,going to college now I'm just babbling my point is I know people swear for different reasons,and some I can over look but when you see it in every post it gets a little hard to want to read,for me I like all of the input I get from reading,when I come here I like how all respect each other even when you feel they are wrong,that is why I like it here you don't have to be afraid to say what is on your mind,I want to tank all of you for even looking and responding you all are great here so thanks again

That's a funny typing error gbpfan, but I agree with most of your post.

As former military, we tried to watch our language when on base. During field exercises however, emphasis was on getting the job done.
Stress level was then indicated by how much swearing was going on.

I'm sure it is the same with any NFL team. You don't hear them swearing in interviews, but miked-up during a game? LOL

Same should apply here. No reason to use profanity in a well-thought out post. A sudden miscue during the game however, & profanity is reflex.
:cussing:

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I do hope you realize my question was in jest. It's actually an inside joke dating back to a Biology chat room in which I used to hang out. We had a member whose first words whenever a new woman entered the room were: "Are you hot?" It made me laugh every time, particularly since it always seemed to disconcert them.

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An inside joke loses way to much when you have to type out a paragraph as to why it is a joke..

specially when it doesnt even relate to our forum here