There are some situations when people tend to behave less politely than they normally would and being in pain is one of them. It has even been shown that for the many people who don’t often use such language, swearing increases pain tolerance, among its other functions.
Either way, it may be hurtful when directed at others and this Redditor raised a question about whether it would be a good idea to apologize for swearing at her doctor while giving birth.
More info: Reddit
A woman’s doctor was great while she was in labor, yet towards the end, they ran into a disagreement
Image credits: Jonathan Borba (not the actual photo)
The new mom was in labor for around 30 hours and was incredibly exhausted
Image credits: Pixabay (not the actual photo)
Image credits: AnswerTrue8371
At some point, the woman felt as if she was about to faint from pain and expressed her emotions with “Jesus f*****g Christ”
Image credits: Alexander Grey (not the actual photo)
The doctor replied with “do not use the lord’s name in vain”
A woman brought it to the Reddit AITA community online as she was considering sending an apology note after swearing at her doctor and asked if she was a jerk for doing so in the first place.
The woman explained that she gave birth to her baby 2 weeks ago. The new mom was in labor for close to 30 hours and was incredibly exhausted; luckily, her doctor was great the whole time.
However, towards the end, the pain was unbearable and after the woman reacted to it with “Jesus f*****g Christ”, she was told by the doctor to not use the lord’s name in vain. To this, the woman quickly responded by cursing at the doctor, making him not say much during the remainder of the birth.
Eventually, the new mom felt pretty guilty and was considering sending an apology note to the doctor for swearing at him.
The woman quickly swore at the doctor and he didn’t say much for the remainder of the birth
Image credits: Jonathan Borba (not the actual photo)
Afterwards, the woman felt pretty guilty and was considering sending an apology note to the hospital
In some situations it might be difficult to tell if one did something wrong, or what the exact intentions of another party were, yet when it comes to the woman’s behavior during labor the commenters judged she was not the jerk with the post gathering 13.k upvotes on Reddit.
Either way, when it comes to apologies, Verywell Mind noted that it is possible to simply apologize for one’s own part of the conflict if one feels like it, without meaning that the entire conflict was their fault.
They explained that giving an apology, even when only a small part of the conflict was one’s responsibility, may sometimes be a good idea. Being fair in one’s apology may be an opportunity to admit what one feels uncomfortable about the effect of their actions but also confirm their boundaries.
When it comes to the defense of swear words, it was noted by Melissa Mohr in her study on the history of swearing, called “Holy Sh*t”, that while swearing can certainly be overused, such combinations of words also are tools that may have important functions, like a “hammer that’s perfectly designed for the job”.
The author explains that people often swear about what they care about and swear words do what other English words often fail to do, which is express extreme emotions, whether negative or positive, carry a sometimes needed function of language to insult and offend others, offer catharsis as a response to pain or to powerful feelings and cement ties among members of groups in ways that other words cannot.
What’s your take on the situation? Please, share your thoughts in the comment section below!
Redditors shared their takes on the situation
