Choose The Flip, Or The Other Four-Letter Word

(My 4H club (a youth organization) and I have all gone out to eat after a long day of showing at our local fair. One member, a five-year-old, decides she’s suddenly got something important to share…)

Five-Year-Old: *at the top of her lungs* “Look, everybody! Look what I can do!” *flips off everyone*

(Cue hysterical laughter from the advisor, and the mother of the five-year-old is shocked speechless.)

Me: “That’s, uh… Let’s not do that… ”

Five-Year-Old: *disappointed* “Oh… Why?”

Me: “That’s something grown-ups do when they’re really mad and it’s not nice.”

Five-Year-Old: *realization* “Oh, like ‘F*** you’?”

(The mother hides her face in her hands.)

Me: “Yes… Don’t say that either.”