A little bathroom humor
My column that was printed in The Baytown Sun yesterday stirred up a little trouble.
I wrote about how difficult even the most basic things can be for moms, such as getting away to the bathroom for even a few seconds. Toward the end of the column, I make a statement about how we all just want to "pee in peace" or something like that. I always have to be careful about what I write, what with Chad being a minister and all. I was a little nervous about having the reference to "pee" in there, but I figured that since it was toward the end of the column that it wouldn't be a big deal.
So Wednesday morning I pick up the paper and a rather large headline above my column screams "CAN WE JUST GO PEE IN PEACE?" I don't write the headlines. The copy editors write them when they put the column on the newspaper page. I heard from the managing editor today that they got a few complaint calls about the word "PEE" in 36-point type, and then the editor called the entire copy desk staff into her office for a little talk on "Words That May be Inappropriate for Headlines."
None of this really bothers me, except for the fact that most people don't realize that I don't write the headlines. I personally would not have put the word "PEE" in large letters right next to my name and little black-and-white picture. I'm thinking right now of the three sections of fourth-graders I spoke to a few weeks ago about "Careers in Writing." I'm sure they all saw it. They read the paper every day in class. Ugh.
I better run now. Hafta go pee.
I wrote about how difficult even the most basic things can be for moms, such as getting away to the bathroom for even a few seconds. Toward the end of the column, I make a statement about how we all just want to "pee in peace" or something like that. I always have to be careful about what I write, what with Chad being a minister and all. I was a little nervous about having the reference to "pee" in there, but I figured that since it was toward the end of the column that it wouldn't be a big deal.
So Wednesday morning I pick up the paper and a rather large headline above my column screams "CAN WE JUST GO PEE IN PEACE?" I don't write the headlines. The copy editors write them when they put the column on the newspaper page. I heard from the managing editor today that they got a few complaint calls about the word "PEE" in 36-point type, and then the editor called the entire copy desk staff into her office for a little talk on "Words That May be Inappropriate for Headlines."
None of this really bothers me, except for the fact that most people don't realize that I don't write the headlines. I personally would not have put the word "PEE" in large letters right next to my name and little black-and-white picture. I'm thinking right now of the three sections of fourth-graders I spoke to a few weeks ago about "Careers in Writing." I'm sure they all saw it. They read the paper every day in class. Ugh.
I better run now. Hafta go pee.
posted by Deana Nall @ 6:15 PM
9 Comments:
At Thu Nov 10, 06:35:00 PM,
Nellie said…
They just need to put on their big girl panties and get over it. :)
I'll bet every mother of young children knew exactly what the subject of the column was before reading the first sentence. And a "title" is supposed to give a clue as to the content of the article isn't it?
Anyway, I was not offended. I just laughed!
At Fri Nov 11, 06:40:00 AM,
David Michael said…
Funny article! Maybe you could give a few suggestions for a title. I think a good one would have been, "Precious Moments on the John."
At Fri Nov 11, 07:20:00 AM,
Kyle said…
Yeah for you! I think your next head line should be "Pee-pee, Doo-doo, Pukey-butt Stinky Pants"
And the article could be all about completely anal people with no sence of humor.
At Fri Nov 11, 09:52:00 AM,
elizabeth said…
That sounds like grounds for dismembership to me...
At Fri Nov 11, 11:29:00 AM,
sarahdawn said…
Though of you this morning as I found myself on my potty with both a 1 year olda nd a 3 year old playing on the floor. I asked Paris why they had to play there and I couldn't potty in private. Her answer was simply, "Because we're your friends." I must admit I have very few friends I have shard a bathroom with on such and intimate level, I guess that makes my kids my best friends. I suppose that's not entirely bad.
At Sat Nov 12, 05:50:00 PM,
mom23 said…
Deana, my side hurts from laughing so hard right now. I'm so with you on this one! When I read it, I didn't even flinch or give it a second thought. And I soooo "feel your pain" in terms of being a preacher's wife. I am the queen of open-mouth-insert-foot syndrome, and many-a-time I wished nobody from church read my blog so I could share some,uh, other thoughts. Keep up the awesome work! Your blog is awesome.
At Sat Nov 12, 07:34:00 PM,
Fajita said…
Those 4th graders will be your life-long devotees. A grown up said, "PEE." Gee that's good.
At Sun Nov 13, 06:14:00 AM,
Mary Lou said…
Ah, the memories of sitting in the bathroom and hearing a crying 2-year old outside the door. Then I'd hear Kim picking him up and telling him to leave Mommy alone. I quit taking showers with the baby boys when we went camping when one of them exclaimed, "Mommy, what are these?" That's when the Daddy gets to have them in the shower. That was the good thing about all boys and camping trips...Dad took them to the showers and that was when I got to shower and pee in peace. :-)
I'll have to share a little children's book I bought for myself many years ago entitled, "Five Minutes of Peace".
Keep up the good work, Deana. You're great. There will always be complainers, but there will never be enough journalists like you.
At Wed Nov 16, 10:18:00 AM,
Deb said…
Potty semantics aren’t for everyone, and when a wee pee induces a tidal wave of problems, the last one ya need to deal with is posturing from the church people. Loo-loos!
You will have many years of laughter over this … it took me awhile to get relief, I’ve been laughing so hard! Thanks for sharing (but keep the TP)!
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