Make a Sailor Blush

From time to time I read a blog in which the author will sometimes write, "Okay, Mom and Dad. Here's where you need to stop reading" and then will go on to say something that is usually pretty hair-curling.

Yesterday I was reading for the Blind, and the particular book was a Social Studies text which included a chapter on a therapy program being conducted in a prison. The participants were inmates incarcerated for violent crimes and the program's intent was to get these bad actors to start "thinking right" about themselves and their actions. All was going well, reading wise, until we got to a lengthy section of the actual dialogs between the prisoners and the facilitators of the therapy sessions. Talk about curling your hair! The sessions were usually very heated, with a lot of confrontation and the language used would, in the vernacular, make a sailor blush!

I found myself very uncomfortable when confronted with these words. Not only was I expected to record them for posterity (uttered with the proper emphasis), I had two directors - both young women - diligently listening to every word I said at that moment. I am not prone to blushing, but it certainly felt a lot warmer in that recording booth. If I did blush, no one saw it. My directors kept their eyes glued to the text.

It's not that I haven't seen or heard these words before (and here's where I say, "Okay, kids, you need to stop reading now.") and I even admit that I have even uttered some of these words at times that I'm not proud of. But my, oh my! This was something else altogether!

I got through it. My directors and I avoided eye contact after the session was over, but I couldn't help but wonder what they were thinking. I hope they were as uncomfortable as I was.

I think I'm going to start asking for Math books, or Geography texts from now on. Nursery Rhymes, anyone?