I’ve known this guy for more than 45 years. He’s a quiet, soft-spoken man who never swears regardless of the provocation. If he hits his thumb with a hammer, he says “shucky-darn!” If he cuts his finger with a knife, he says “shucky-darn!” No matter how bad things get, he reacts about the same. You know this isn’t normal…this man has been in the Coast Guard and has been working as a lineman and a foreman for the electric company for forty years. He knows all the words but chooses not to use them..

I couldn’t believe it at first. I thought to myself that this guy is going to pinch his finger or something and then he’ll cuss a blue streak just like the rest of us normal people. I just couldn’t believe that he was actually a real shucky-darn guy. Over the years I kind of kept this in the back of my mind. I didn’t go nuts about this and try to trip him up or cause him to explode over some stressful event. I just noted his reactions like you note what is happening with the weather. For instance, it’s warm today or there’s a nice breeze blowing today.

Meanwhile, this is causing me to pay more attention to the people I come in contact with. Is this woman with the super sweet personality and the honey dripping from her lips a shucky-darn gal and is this man with the over-enthusiastic handshake a shucky-darn guy? Or, are they just blowing smoke at me while they cuss me and call me names under their breath? I don’t want to be cynical but sometimes it’s hard to get a fix on people and know if they are real or not.

My friend stayed the same. I guess it’s been almost 50 years now and he has been true to his principles and remained a Shucky-Darn Guy! Don’t worry, I still use all those bad words myself and if you’re not a shucky darn guy or shucky-darn gal I’ll still love ya’.

Dave Thomas
February 8, 2014