Three Really Bad Words …

Trey and I have had quite a few confidential conversations, me the Grandad and him a Grandson.  Just the two of us.

A lot of those chats have been at The Cabin, some in a boat, others riding in a vehicle.  Of course, what happens at The Cabin stays at the cabin, and that applies to boats and vehicles as well.  But there is a ten-year rule that I forgot to mention to Trey.  After 10 years, anything goes.

So, Trey turned 16 this year.  When he was six – maybe five – we were talking about nothing in particular when the subject of bad words came up.  We were sitting in the den of my Roswell home, and his parents were in another room.  Surprisingly, he told me that he knew three bad words.  No telling what he had heard at school, on the bus or wherever.  I was very curious.

“What are they?”  I asked him.

“No way, Grandad,” he said. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why?” I asked.

“My Dad told me to never say those three words,” he said. “So I cannot say them.”

My curiosity was getting the best of me.  Plus, I was bracing for some pretty rough language.

“Just whisper them to me,” I told him.

“No way, Grandad.  They are really bad words, and I’m not suppose to say them.”

I told him okay and that I was proud of him for not saying bad words and for listening to his parents.

Then Trey had a suggestion.  “Maybe if we went in the basement nobody would hear me,” he said, adding, “let’s go in the basement.”  Which we did.  I suspected Trey didn’t mind saying the words in confidence but did not want anybody to know.  I braced for some really bad words.

“You’re not going to tell anybody, right?” he reaffirmed.  I assured him our talk was between the two of us (while not mentioning the ten-year statute of limitations).  So, what are the really bad words?

“Well, the first one is stupid.  You should never call anybody stupid or even say that someone is stupid,” he explained.  “Nobody is stupid, Grandad.”

I told him he was right and that I totally agree.  What about the second bad word?

“Well, the second word is dumb,” he said. “Never call anybody dumb or even say somebody is dumb.  It’s just a bad word.”

Okay, now, what about the third bad word?

“It’s a really bad word, Grandad.  It’s loser.  Nobody is a loser.  Nobody.”

Well, besides being very relieved, it occurred to me that my grandson was getting some really good up-bringing at home.  I was proud of him but even more proud of his Mom and Dad.

Before we left the basement Trey and I agreed to never use the three bad words around others.  But, we also agreed that it was okay to use them when it was just the two of us.  We got a good laugh out of that.

A week later, I picked up Trey for a trip to The Cabin and some fishing.  We loaded his gear, strapped him in and started backing out of his driveway.

“Hey, Grandad,” he said. “Don’t hit that stupid tree when you are backing out.”  We both laughed hard.

And just down the street, it was, “I bet that dog is a loser.”  We laughed even harder.

We enjoyed a lot of really bad words on that trip to The Cabin.  Just the two of us.