I am grateful that it stings when I hear a cuss word.

It doesn’t really bother me that people use foul words, at least when they are used appropriately. Okay, that doesn’t sound right. When they are justified, as when someone needs to emphasize a very important point, or when the foot slams into an unseen rock or something and there is just nothing more appropriate to say than, “&*!#%.”  I have lots of friends and family and co-workers who cuss, and it really is okay and I think no less of them and love them dearly and let those words go right past my ding ding monitor. But I have a very hard time when people use ugly words around sensitive ears, ears that belong to children or to adults who have not been around the language.  Ears that are professional and are sensitive in a discerning way. It’s just not cool.

Today, I had to sit in on an interview with a very qualified physician scientist who has an extensive resume and is very well-known in the biotechnology arena. He had never spoken to this particular recruiter who happens to be a woman as if that matters any longer in this era of equality, but throughout the interview, he littered his answers with horrible words. He did this with a woman he had never met. On an interview for a new position. If he speaks this way to a stranger who makes the decision to accept or reject his candidacy, how might he speak to those with whom he works every day? It’s just not cool.

What IS cool is the way a dog’s floppy ear feels, so I am grateful for that.

What IS cool is chocolate peanut butter cake just slightly warmed up in the microwave that makes it fluffy soft and melt-in-the-mouth, so I am grateful for that.

What IS cool is a gentleman who holds a door open for anyone and lets them enter or exit first rather than holding it open after he walked in front of them, so I am grateful for those rare guys. And in this era of equality, I am grateful for those ladies who do the same.

What IS cool is a clean bathroom, so I am grateful that I don’t mind cleaning up after all of the females on this first floor. Thank you Mom for instilling sparkle desire in your daughter.

What IS cool are parents who teach their children to use words other than cuss words to express themselves while also teaching their children to not judge and pre-determine but look past the superficial words that don’t adequately describe another person’s heart, and I am grateful that I have finally latched onto that lesson 51 years in. It’s never too late to learn.

And what IS cool is the smell of Comet and Pine-Sol and bleach and any other bathroom cleaner, so I am grateful for my nose to smell cleanliness in a bottle. Mmmmmm.