Today it seems like the best way to say I love you, is to call you “the sh*t” as in “you’re the sh*t, baby.”

The F-bomb, the B-word, and everything in between are used to express our strongly felt emotions to one another like “you’re the best b**ch ever” or “I f***ing hate him.” Whether complimenting a person or being livid, the words used are all the same. The context changes but the derogatory words are still there. In general, I don’t think people in this century really know at what point cursing becomes too much.

Such words have become so common today that people aren’t in agreement as to which words should be classified as cursing.

Unfortunately, the expressions have become a part of the average person’s vocabulary that people have come to rely on using them.

South Pasadena High School student McKay Hatch, founded the No Cussing Club in 2007 at his middle school as a way to teach “kids and adults the importance of using positive and uplifting language, and empowering kids to not only combat bullying? but to not become bullies themselves.”

If a 14-year-old at the time could figure out that using derogatory words is awful, then why is it that the common person has such difficulty cutting down on their choice of language?

Since beginning this club, he has written songs, printed posters, published a book and created a Web site for the club. The Web site has become so famous that there are more than 20,000 members worldwide.

With the help of Hatch, assembly members Anthony J. Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) and Cameron Smyth (R-Santa Clarita) proposed a bill that would make the first week of March “No Cussing Week” in the state of California.

In Hatch’s statement to the press on Feb. 25, he thanked the assembly for passing the bill that makes March 1 to 5 “No Cussing Week” and Smyth and Portantino for offering Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 112 to him. The Resolution is what started the ball rolling into getting the bill passed.

Quoted from the pressroom of the State Capitol in Sacramento, Hatch said, “your words become your actions, your actions become your behavior, your behavior becomes your character, and your character becomes your destiny. You are what you speak.” Now at the age of 17, Hatch still seems mature beyond his years. How it is that one person can have so much insight, while all around campus I’m confronted by foul language wherever I turn?

Simply walking from the AD to the SR building, I can get an earful of other people’s conversations and all the beautiful words they use, and yes, I’m being sarcastic. There’s nothing beautiful about the number of times I hear these expressions. Maybe there should be a no cussing jar in order to get people to calm down with every other swear word uttered from their lips.

In Mississippi, using foul language in public can get you fined up to $100; in Virginia it’s $250, and in South Carolina a person can be charged up to a whopping $5,000. Just a little food for thought.

But, I guess it can’t be helped when it’s glamorized in the entertainment industry.
On TV, in movies, and in music videos, the rich and the famous can be found dropping bombs to make what they’re doing edgier or funnier. Actors like Adam Sandler, Seth Rogan and rapper Lil’ Wayne are all known for being beeped out for their profanity-laced performances, which most viewers tend to shrug off and say it’s part of the package.

These words are like a well-placed advertisement: they’re put in just the right spot for added effect. In due time viewers pick up the words constantly bombarding them, like babies learning to speak. How old are we again? I thought we’d all gotten past that stage of growth and development. There’s a time and place for everything, and it isn’t necessary to have every word spoken turning someone’s face red from explicitness.

I’d say that commenting about the language a person uses has become a bit taboo. To correct another person makes you an uptight religious type or someone who just doesn’t know how to have fun. The irony is astounding, to say the least. I guess I can’t be “cool” if I don’t curse like a sailor and say “Hey, do you like me now?” at the top of every hour.

There are some who curse so often that they have to excuse themselves before they even begin a conversation. Really, are you kidding me? While there are some who say it’s funny, the person quickly turns into an old routine and sounds like they’re apologizing for having some sort of deficiency, where they can’t stop the words coming from their mouths. There is a time and place for everything, and that time doesn’t include 24/7 in my ears.

Unless they are consciously in control of the words they use in their vocabulary, the average person isn’t perfect. It is not so much about the cursing itself as it is about how often it is used.

So remember boys and girls “You’re the sh*t,” with love, Liz.