The care and feeding of a family blog

One of the few things I've consistently tried to do from the inception of this site is to keep the language as 'family friendly' as possible... even if the topics aren't always so. 

By this I mean that if there was no pressing reason to use one of George Carlin's (A"H) famous words you weren't allowed to say on Television, I generally opted for a word that had less potential to offend.  I also endured a bit of ridicule from some quarters for 'Bowdlerizing' certain words so that they only resembled their naughty linguistic counterparts... or replaced them altogether.

I have admit that this kind of self-censorship often feels disingenuous since I am not nearly as careful to avoid 'bawdy language' in my private life.  And in some cases I feel like I'm giving readers the false impression of a 'Leave it to Beaver' existence that simply doesn't exist here at chez treppenwitz.

So with that in mind, I want to come clean (pun intended) about a few things, and for your input on the importance of this topic in your enjoyment of online reading.

First and foremost is the admission that I sometimes have a bit of a potty mouth. 

I can't blame it all on the four years I spent in the navy... but my vocabulary was certainly enhanced by shipboard life among a cross-section of the population that skewed heavily towards the lower socio-economic sectors of the American south. 

However, during that time I also gained an appreciation for the difference between gratuitous profanity that added nothing to a story (except maybe to reveal gaps in the speaker's vocabulary)... and 'colorful' words/expressions that added appreciably to the topic at hand in the form of nuance and emphasis.

So when writing blindly for a diverse audience such as I do here on treppenwitz, I've tried (with limited success) to err on the side of caution in order to keep the site 'accessible' to as wide an audience as possible.  On the few occasions when I've inadvertently (or deliberately) allowed a bit of profanity to creep in, I've gotten pointed complaints in the comments board, and via email, from a group I've come to think of as 'the church ladies' (even though one or two of them are men).

This is where I need your help with a reality check.  We all know that the squeaky wheel usually gets the grease... meaning those who speak up and/or complain are generally the ones who are heeded.  But that doesn't mean the complainers are statistically representative of the audience.

For instance, if an airline gets a a flood of complaints about seats not being wide enough, they need to figure out if the traveling public is indeed getting too fat large for the standard sized seat or if there is a tiny minority of obese travelers who are lobbying for suitable accommodation.  One requires a universal solution while the other may require (at most!) the addition of a few specialized seats on each flight.

Another example would be if a Major League Baseball franchise began getting complaints about the lack of kosher/hallal concession stands at the stadium.  In such a case they would need to ascertain whether there was suitable audience to justify the change in the status quo (such as in the New York, Boston and Baltimore areas) or if the complaints were coming from a tiny, but vocal, group that really had no reasonable right to expect accommodation (think Minnesota or Seattle).

A last (and probably best) example would be of a radio talk show that catered to a wide audience, but had traditionally attracted a more 'straight-laced' following - which was in actuality a tiny percentage of their listening audience - because they tend to tone down or avoid the more 'racy' topics.  On the rare occasions when bawdier language is used or 'less-wholesome' topics are discussed on the air, their inbox fills up with complaints... but it quickly becomes clear that the complaints are coming from a narrow sliver of the listening audience that is not statistically representative of the audience at large.  If something interesting but 'slightly off color' happens in the world, to what extent is the station management obligated to cater to this tiny-but-vocal demographic when deciding whether to discuss it on the air?

Look, I'm not looking for your permission to 'cuss' here on treppenwitz.  I'm also not asking if it is OK to discuss some of the less savory topics.  It's just that the readership here has grown and changed over the years to the extent that I don't feel like I really 'know my demographic' anymore.

Your responses to this poll, and any thoughts you'd like to add in the comments, will be greatly appreciated.