Enough Already!

Jeff and I went to the brand new bowling alley last night with our friends Doug and Sara. We had so much fun! They had new shoes, new balls, new lanes, and the place was just CLEAN. The employees were very attentive to our needs and made sure to come by every 20 minutes or so to see if we needed refills or would like to order some food. It’s nice to finally have another place where we can hang out with friends…and it didn’t cost us an arm and a leg to do it!

The only black spot on the evening happened when a group of 16-17 year olds sat next to us to play a game. On the other side of them was a family with a little boy about 3 or 4. At first it was no big deal. Then they opened their mouths. Every other word they said was either the F bomb or faggot, or my personal favorite ‘that’s so gay!’ Because I’m sure we’re all aware that a bowling ball not hitting the pins is totally homosexual. It doesn’t even make any sense!

After several minutes of listening to this, I finally said something to them when it was my turn to bowl. It wasn’t rude or mean…but they decided to make something of it, and Jeff stepped in. It was all stopped before it got out of hand and they ended up playing pool instead of bowling.

So here’s my problem. Why is it okay to use the word faggot? Or the ‘that’s so gay!’ comment. It’s being used as a slur and somehow it’s like it has become socially acceptable. I’ve seen kids use it in front of their parents and the parents don’t even bat an eye. I’m sure if they were using the N word it would be a different story.

Maybe this doesn’t happen everywhere else. Maybe since Susanville is such a close minded town it’s okay for these kids to run their mouths that way. But what are their parents teaching them by not correcting the behavior? What about when they move to a bigger city and these terms have become second nature? I just picture these kids 10 years from now in a corporate office giving a report…’and the reason we are in the red this year is due to the public not being informed of our product, which is totally gay! Maybe if that fag, John, would have spent a little more time on advertising, this wouldn’t be the case.’ Can you even imagine?