The "F" Word

Last year we had a incident involving the "F" word. No, not that F word, the other one. I am referring to the word fart. I will agree that it isn't polite language, but I never really thought of it as that offensive. Probably because that was the name of my Grandpa Henry's dog. My Grandpa was not one to pay money for a dog. I'm not sure how he came to own a full blooded dachshund puppy, but when he registered it, he named him Fart.  He was a cute little thing, and very happy to come running anytime anyone yelled Fart! My brother and I would call the dog more than necessary. So, from early on, I was never really offended by that word. It would just make me giggle or smile. That would explain why I didn't catch it in that English paper. Jake was writing a story about dragonflies. He had to have so many descriptive words in it. He had to do research on the subject and found out that some dragonflies have glands near their rear ends where they can pass gas. He wrote about farting in the water and the water full of bubbles or something to that effect. It was actually a very funny story. He was crushed when he was told he had to rewrite his story because of his offensive language. He didn't understand how it was offensive, and most of all, why didn't I tell him it was offensive when I read over the story BEFORE he turned it in!! I called his English teacher, who is a very understanding lady and one of his favorite teachers. I learned that she isn't fond of the word. She doesn't allow her 30 year old son to say the word. But, she agreed that it was a funny story and he could use it as extra credit. It turns out that she wanted him to rewrite it mainly because he would be reading it in front of other parents. Jake rewrote the paper and got an A and was happy to have an extra credit paper.  It all worked out in the end. I can only guess, but I'll bet the English teachers Grandpa named his dog Spot. Take care!