I like to cuss. I like to cuss so much that when my two brothers and I would tease our mother about who she loved the most, we would move to questions. She always answered “all the same”.

Finally my brother asked her who cussed the most. She said “all the………well, it’s Jack”.

In my defense I would pick my spots on when to use profanity and I was and am careful in public.

Which makes me cringe at the frenzy of using the f-word in public these days.

Politicians. Actors. Seemingly everybody. There is one athlete who I have never seen quoted without using it in a sentence. You can’t make a point without inserting the f-word, which usually gets giggles or applause.

But I think it cheapens dialogue, and acts as a divisible substitute for using words to make a point.

As a sign of the times I just sigh, but part of me wishes people in these public moments would try harder.