Words matter, a lot, in Myrtle Beach

Labor Day weekend. The last big beach weekend of the year at resort destinations across the country.

For the most part, these destinations are the hallmark of the family vacation. Pack up the kids, the beach chairs, the bicycles … head to the house at the seashore. It is a most wholesome example of the American lifestyle.

Of course, there are a few exceptions. The television show “Jersey Shore” portrayed an opposite view of a wholesome summer at the beach. Municipalities at summer vacation destinations face a number of challenges to maintaining the proper balance between allowing people to have fun and keeping the “fun” from intruding on other visitors.

Myrtle Beach is one of the largest summer beach destinations in the country. People have been flocking to this pleasant stretch of South Carolina long before it ever became famous for the nearly 100 golf courses that are in the area. Among the multitudes who come to the area, there are always the ones who take the party a bit too far.

That is why the town instituted a law a few years ago that got national attention recently. A number of news sources reported that Myrtle Beach collected $22,161 last year from fines for using “lewd, obscene or profane” words in public.

This governmental extension of the “swear jar” made national headlines when Fox News recently ran a story on this practice. Fines can reach as high as $500.

Of course, this flies in the face of the national trend, as profanity is becoming a part of everyday life in America. The use of profane language — especially the f-word — seems to rise proportionally as the age group of observed Americans decreases. Plenty of discussion about this trend has been given in this space over the past few years.

Apparently, it reached uncomfortable proportions in Myrtle Beach — where heavy partiers and families with small chil-

dren often crossed in close proximity on the popular beaches.

“The goal is to have folks obey whatever rules or ordinances that any government puts in place,” said city spokesperson Mark Kruea. “There is an expectation of a certain amount of propriety in a public place … There are limits, I think, to how excited one can be and how much expressive behavior one can share with the public without infringing on somebody else’s right.”

Stories on the subject have run in the Sun News, the Myrtle Beach paper, and in Southern Living magazine. But the debate received added fuel when it ran on national television last week.

That just happened to be the week of the 35th World Amateur Handicap

Championship in Myrtle Beach. It is the country’s largest golf tournament, bringing more than 3,000 golfers to courses in the area and more than 6,000 visitors to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center each night. A total of 48 states and 24 foreign countries were represented.

It seemed like the perfect place to test the social waters, regarding the story about Myrtle Beach that had made national news.

One night in the Convention Center a gathering of old friends and new acquaintances took place, with the conversation generally focused on the week of golf. When the topic turned slightly toward the economic transition Myrtle Beach was undergoing … and some of the side effects … it seemed like the perfect time to introduce the subject of the Myrtle Beach anti-swearing regulation, for the purpose of testing reactions.

One of the individuals in the group of new acquaintances — which included men and women — was a clean-cut, middle-aged businessman from Central New Jersey. He was the first to react to news about the possible fine.

“Are you f-ing kidding me? That’s f-ing ridiculous,” he said, in a loud, defiant voice.

Embarrassed by the fact that he said this in mixed company, I tried to diffuse the situation by saying, “That could have just cost you $1,000.”

“F-that,” was his even more defiant comment, unconcerned about anyone in close proximity would hear.

For me, that proved to be Lesson No. 1.

Lesson No. 2 came later the same night. I adjourned to a streetfront café for a cold beer and conversation with a longtime business associate and friend. Our server was an attractive, athletic-looking

woman presumably in her mid-30s. On a warm night, she was dressed in a tank top and gym shorts that revealed a body that was almost completely covered with tattoos. She also sported a couple of piercings.

After getting our beverages and making small talk, it was time for another sampling of reaction to the news-making law.

This Myrtle Beach resident gave another surprising answer.

“I think it’s great,” she said, emphatically. “They should enforce it more. I love the beach and I go down there early in the morning. Many times I have to pick up my chair and move because a group of young people takes up a spot next to me and fills the air with loud cursing.

“I don’t stand for it. I don’t like it in public and I don’t allow it at home. I have a 16-year-old son and I don’t tolerate any

foul language from him. I don’t use it in front of him and I don’t expect to hear it in return.

“I know that may surprise people,” she continued. “They see me with my tattoos and piercings and just assume that I have a trashy mouth. But that’s not the way I am and I’m happy to see the city doing something about other people who want to impose their lack of civility on others.”

To say it was an unexpected reaction would be an understatement.

More than surprise, I felt shame.

For the second time in just a few hours, I realized I was guilty of betraying a personal commitment to open-mindedness and not pre-judging people. After a few minutes of making an acquaintance, I might make a judgement, but I always tried to guard against making that judgement before meeting them. Now I had to plead guilty twice

in the same night.

Hopefully, this public admission stands as a personal lesson — one that comes as an unintended result of a social experiment regarding the moral decay of American society. Bottom line, a few profane words are bad — but not nearly as bad as pre-judging people.

Thanks to the pottymouthed Americans for providing an important self-lesson.

And thanks to them for donating more than $22,000 to the Myrtle Beach general fund. Hopefully, it goes to good use.

Tony Leodora is president of TL Golf Services, host of the weekly GolfTalk Live radio show on WNTP 990-AM and host of the Traveling Golfer television show — as well as editor of GolfStyles magazine. He is former sports editor of The Times Herald. Send comments to tlgolfservices@aol.com.