kids learn...

beware, kids assimilate stuff like sponges. I used to drive around peacefully insulting whoever I wanted in the privacy of my own vehicle until one of my kids (then about 14, give or take) decided (in western Canada--thank God, no one I knew--and that may have livened thigns up a bit in that very quiet part of the world...) to open the window and express his views of a bad driver by letting out, in a foreign language, a string of perfectly-pitched insults that would have sent my late mother... well, probably peeing herself with laughter. But I was stunned, scolded him, and he coolly responded: " So what? YOU have been saying this kind of stuff for 15 years, where do you think I learned it??!!"

So now, I warn my friends and others: you may swear in Urdu, French, or English, and never hear a peep from the back seat but they acquire the zingers alright! (After that, I used to fine $ 10 per incident --never had to, after I laid down the law-- and esp. in professional context (meeting my coworkers>> no bad language in any language). And they will love to dish it back out to you atthe perfectly wrong time...

But er,.... now my kids have the ways & means to defend themselves VERBALLY as young adults (thanks, Dad!--thank you, kids!) AND the biggest pain ended up being for ...me... I could not express myself any more while driving... deprived myself of my first amendment rights... (on the other hand,with all the guns in this country--it is now reported to be 270 million guns -- I thought we still were at 200 million,naive me!-- you can't afford any more a little contrary social interaction or difference of opinion... So I would have to roll up my windows to express my views of some drivers (great in the winter only...)

Yeap, file under domestic origins of erosion of basic civil & legal rights!!