# Didn't your mother teach you not to say "fucking" in a restaurant? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 29, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414 "2011-11-29T03:34:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414/41 "2011-11-30T03:16:35Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I can safely say that I never received any instructions from my mother about not saying “fucking” in a restaurant. “Son, I want you to treat everyone with respect. Try your best. Make your family proud. Eat all of your vegetables, and remember your prayers each night. Oh yeah…never say ‘fucking’ in a restaurant.” ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414/42 "2011-11-30T04:30:57Z")
I learned the hard way about having a potty mouth around kids. There is a child in the seat next to mine at hockey games, she’s now almost 5. When she was about 3, something happened on the ice and I let out “Oh shit!” This beautiful little girl looked at her mom with a big smile and said very clearly “Oh shit”. I have since learned to self-censor in all but the most extreme circumstances and have become used to having the others in my section laugh at me when I swallow some profanity. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414/43 "2011-11-30T05:04:34Z")
Obligatory YouTube link. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414/44 "2011-11-30T09:51:42Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Three sets of elderly couples, me, and three bankers whose loud conversation could clearly be heard in every corner of the place. Well, that’s OK, it’s not that interesting a conversation, I can mostly tune it out. What I couldn’t tune out was the adjective “fucking” in every other sentence from one of them. Well, if you really wanted to do something about it, complain to the restaurant management, not to a bunch of people on a message board. Or do what a friend of mine did in a similar situation. Listen long enough to learn what bank employs them, then use your cell phone to call the head of that bank, say “I’m trying to have a quiet lunch with my husband, but some of your employees are disturbing the whole restaurant. Would you like to hear them?” and then hold out the cell phone so they can be heard for a minute or two. After that, you can be sure that they will hear about their conduct in public. It helped that this friend is a senior level at the Federal Reserve Bank, and could quickly get connected to the head of the bank. But you could also record a bit of their ‘conversation’ with your cellphone camera, and post it on YouTube, with a heading like “Wells Fargo (or whatever bank) Bank employees disturbing restaurant diners” or something similar. Most large banks have PR people watching online stories about them, and dealing with them – they’d probably pick this up quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414/45 "2011-11-30T12:31:22Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Well, if you really wanted to do something about it, complain to the restaurant management, not to a bunch of people on a message board. I did. What’s that got to do with my OP? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414/46 "2011-11-30T12:49:50Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I did. What’s that got to do with my OP? Good! That’s what I would have done, too. I just thought you hadn’t complained, since you didn’t mention it. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414/47 "2011-11-30T12:58:51Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > I just thought you hadn’t complained, since you didn’t mention it. I didn’t think it was relevant to my complaint here. It shouldn’t have been necessary for me to complain (or not complain–if I’d chosen to suck it up in silence) or to go through a rigamarole with cell phones ( 🙂 ). The dweeb should have already learned somewhere along the way how to comport himself in public. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414/48 "2011-11-30T13:16:11Z")
> [@ugly ripe tomato](#): > > Some people say “fuck” the way others say “um” or “like.” I don’t think they’re even aware of it, … Yeah, an attorney friend of mine used it incessantly in college and afterwards and I’m pretty sure he’d become jaded to the fact it was still four letters. He did share with me that a judge had assured him the frequent use of “Fuck, man.” was not appropriate in his court. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414/49 "2011-11-30T14:21:49Z")
> [@Trans Fat Og](#): > > A crowded train: I’m figuring there were some children present, or at least that one couldn’t assume that there definitely would be some running around. I didn’t see any, but if there were they wouldn’t be running around. When I say it was crowded, I mean CROWDED. There was no room to run. Like it would have mattered anyway. The presence of children probably would not have changed the guy’s actions. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414/50 "2011-11-30T16:27:34Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > \*\* Didn’t your mother teach you not…“fucking” in a restaurant?\*\* > > [Apparently not.](http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/bigeast/2009-08-11-pitino_N.htm) [Indeed](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1220633/Boris-Becker-My-daughter-Anna-wasnt-conceived-broom-cupboard--stairs.html). ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414/51 "2011-12-09T21:57:05Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > The Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint! I don’t think the precise _circumstances_ of fucking in restaurants is the issue here, as long as it’s consensual. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-your-mother-teach-you-not-to-say-fucking-in-a-restaurant/604414.md?page=2)