ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

Eric Zorn columnist at the Chicago Tribune writes today about cursing in the stands around his kid at the Cubs game. As a result his "notebook" requests this:

"I'm interested in your stories of taking your kids to the ballpark and encountering rude, appalling, foul behavior from the strangers seated around you."

I think I was 7 or 8 when my dad took me to a Cubs game against the Giants one summer. My memory isn't so great but one of my earliest baseball memories was very similar to your recent experience at the ballpark:

My dad and my uncle had taken my brother, cousin and I to a day game against the Giants. My dad scored the tickets because he had met Jeff Leonard somewhere downtown. He was nice enough to give us a few tickets.
Between innings the parents got up to get us something to drink or whatever, and left us kiddies to our own devices. We basically sat there cussing out the players, dropping F-bombs, and basically getting rowdy. Now looking back at it, I would imagine all those years of watching "This Week in Baseball" highlights of Billy Martin kicking dirt over home plate while mouthing swear words, or Earl Weaver freaking out over someone being called out on a stolen base attempt had this effect on us. Maybe. Maybe it was just a part of life. My dad wasn't one to swear outright in front of kids, but he let it fly every once in awhile...

To make a long story short, the drunken fans in front of us actually turned around and scolded us for cursing like truck drivers. "Those mother-effers", I thought to myself. How bad was our trash talking? Bad enough that the guy in front of us, mullet and all, turned around to inform us that the language we were using wasn't appropriate at the ballpark. He was pretty stern. It took courage on his part. I don't know if I would have had the courage to tell people to watch what they say around my kid. It was our personalized version of Scared Straight. Sans the Prison. For the rest of the game we were on our best behavior. So I guess it kind of worked....or did it? It stuck with me to this day, so it must still be a relevant lesson. Right?

Looking back at it, I seem to recall that everyone was smoking in the stands too. (Dad included) I find it funny how things have changed. You can't smoke anymore (I don't). You can't drink either you lush, so put the beer down (the booze stops flowing now mid 6th inning or something doesn't it?). And now you can't f'n curse at the ballpark too! What the hell is left? Pardon me while I curl up with a good novel and cup of hot chocolate in front of the fireplace -- only to skip all the swear words because honestly, I don't want it entering my mind the next time I am at a game with a group of kids around -- I might slip and repeat what I read. Ugh. Lets wrap this up shall we?

My advice to Mr. Zorn: Your job as a parent is to educate your kid to the best of your ability. You have the right to do whatever it takes to protect your kid from anything you deem evil. Swearing included. BUT, you're at a ballgame and if anything, the exercise was a challenge for you and your parenting abilities. You handled the situation correctly. You left it alone. And your Utopian ideas of removing cursing from our daily lives is honorable if not a tad misguided. You back off to the point where you say its OK to swear at a sports game if it's for good reason. Thanks for the out-clause -- I look at situations like this from a different perspective, because I don't have kids. I curse a lot, and I sometimes slip around a youngin' or two -- I feel bad, but haven't we dumbed everything down enough already? Forget civil liberties, First Amendment arguments and all that crap -- this is a part of life. Don't hide it. Deal with it. It will never go away. Don't get lazy. Use these opportunities to shape the life you are responsible for in a matter you deem fit. And for all those drunken idiot fans out there, you may continue to curse like a truck driver all you want as far as I am concerned -- just don't do it around my kid. :)