Today is Ash Wednesday, the traditional start of the Lenten season.
There is a longtime tradition of giving something up for Lent. The move today is in a different direction, making an effort to “do” something rather than doing without.
What can I tell you, I’m old-fashioned. For that reason for the next 40 days beer will not pass my lips. I have been doing this for years now.
It brings up the classic Lloyd Bridges character in the hilarious movie, “Airplane.”
“I guess I picked the wrong week to give up sniffing glue.”
Yes, I picked a tough week to give up beer. It’s been a rough week for those of us in the newspaper racket. There are likely more tough days to come. We will shoulder on, doing what we do, creating newspapers, Web sites, and yes, even blogs, to deliver to our readers every day.
But for some odd reason I felt the need to expand my Lenten sacrifice this year. Therefore, something else will not pass my lips for the next six weeks. At least that is my hope.
No, not coffee. I’m a little off kilter; I’m not insane. Beer I can do without, coffee I’m not so sure. I honestly don’t think I could do it.
I’m talking – literally – about something else.
Cursing.
You’re shocked, I know.
Look, I don’t routinely pepper my public offerings with profanity. But I do have a troublesome habit of unleasing a blue streak in private. It’s a nasty little habit. And it’s one I am looking to change, starting today. By the way, feel free to join me in this endeavor. One of my pet peeves is how coarse we have become as a society. Removing cursing from the equation can only help lessen our too-often all-too-base nature.
I do not minimize the task in front of me. I work at a newspaper, remember. The newsroom can be a fairly salty place. I have not, in the past, been completely immune from expelling a few X-rated tirades.
Like when the technology I loathe so much swallows a nearly completed story. Or when I notice the glaring typo that too often shows up in our pages.
In those instances, my reaction can best be summed up thusly:
!”*$%*@#^@$&!!!!!!!
There, I feel much better. The next 40 days should be a piece of cake.
There is a longtime tradition of giving something up for Lent. The move today is in a different direction, making an effort to “do” something rather than doing without.
What can I tell you, I’m old-fashioned. For that reason for the next 40 days beer will not pass my lips. I have been doing this for years now.
It brings up the classic Lloyd Bridges character in the hilarious movie, “Airplane.”
“I guess I picked the wrong week to give up sniffing glue.”
Yes, I picked a tough week to give up beer. It’s been a rough week for those of us in the newspaper racket. There are likely more tough days to come. We will shoulder on, doing what we do, creating newspapers, Web sites, and yes, even blogs, to deliver to our readers every day.
But for some odd reason I felt the need to expand my Lenten sacrifice this year. Therefore, something else will not pass my lips for the next six weeks. At least that is my hope.
No, not coffee. I’m a little off kilter; I’m not insane. Beer I can do without, coffee I’m not so sure. I honestly don’t think I could do it.
I’m talking – literally – about something else.
Cursing.
You’re shocked, I know.
Look, I don’t routinely pepper my public offerings with profanity. But I do have a troublesome habit of unleasing a blue streak in private. It’s a nasty little habit. And it’s one I am looking to change, starting today. By the way, feel free to join me in this endeavor. One of my pet peeves is how coarse we have become as a society. Removing cursing from the equation can only help lessen our too-often all-too-base nature.
I do not minimize the task in front of me. I work at a newspaper, remember. The newsroom can be a fairly salty place. I have not, in the past, been completely immune from expelling a few X-rated tirades.
Like when the technology I loathe so much swallows a nearly completed story. Or when I notice the glaring typo that too often shows up in our pages.
In those instances, my reaction can best be summed up thusly:
!”*$%*@#^@$&!!!!!!!
There, I feel much better. The next 40 days should be a piece of cake.
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