Suck a Duck!

I went through some of the stories I have on my my hard drive.  If I took the time to type something up, then I am going to keep it.   I found some old school papers and this one.  It managed to survive the transfer over from my last computer and I found it tucked away in a forgotten folder.  I have some writings on my personal history from a woman's organization (Relief Society) class.  It was only meant to be a short class, but we enjoyed meeting with one another so much and learning about the lives of the women in the class that we begged to have it continue  The leader of our meeting was taking a "How to write your Personal History" class in a formal college.  She would then come to our meeting  and pass around the class handouts she had received the day before and we would do the writing assignment. 

This entry that I found was one of her formal assignments, but when we ran out of subjects from her formal class, we, as a group decided on the subjects we wanted to write about, plus we were able to personalize them, for example we were all apart of the same church and one subject we settled on was how we had decided to be members.  This was one of the best ideas that the women leaders in my church came up with.  I have a book filled with the writings during that period of time.  It was because we had a safe, fun forum to share our writings and that made the class work.

At the weekly meetings we would read what we wrote to the other members.  People would comment and ask questions.  One of our members talked about being a child in Russia and having to live through the Chernobyl melt down.  Another member of the group had been in Germany during World War II and because she was a child of German parents born in America she was forced to be a radio personality spreading propaganda.  Everyone, because of their writing style, had stories that were amazing, even if it was a simple tale of how a woman met her husband.  They were all touching and beautiful.  And as a side effort our writing got better because we were given the chance to hear the words spoken aloud, each woman could then hear if the sentence wasn't structured correctly.  It helped to then make our next stories even better.

Assignment: Tell the Story behind a Picture

 

Written 2007    Pic taken 1999

Suck a Duck

Can you figure out the story behind this picture?

It all started in Dillon, Montana when I was on my mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The Montana Billings mission covered a large terrain, from the top of Montana at the Canada border all the way down to Lander, Wyoming near Cody.  I was usually placed in areas where we were the only missionaries for a 50 mile radius.  In Dillon, it was different I had to deal with one set of Elders while the rest of our district was over an hour away.  After an emergency transfer, we finally had 4 people who could work together in the same small town, sharing the same car. 

 

It was a fateful preparation day(our day off to do laundry and write home) that brought about this shocking picture.  One of the Elders was trying to overcome his habit of swearing.  Playing a friendly game of basketball with some of the church member's young men revealed the extent of his problem.  Finally so frustrated at missing another basket he exploded with, “Suck a Duck!!”  Everyone paused for a brief second looking at one another then we fell to the floor laughing.  Tears falling from my eyes in response to the most ridicules substitute for a swear word that I had ever heard.  From that moment it was our saying.  They four of us used it all the time.

 

The ward members who took care of us in Dillon were the Thurman’s.  They had a son out on a mission at the time and loved the Elders in their home, plus they were trying to hook up their oldest daughter of 18 with any missionary coming to town.  Elder Collins was the target while I was there.  It was so much fun to tease him about it.  We played games with the Thurman’s, had Family Home evening and read the Book of Mormon with them.  The Thurman’s heard us say the infamous phrase once or twice.

 

Imagine our surprise when the four of us came back to the car after sharing a meal with a ward family, to find a plastic bag with a note saying,” Suck this.  Love The Thurman’s” We open it up to find two freshly killed ducks.  This is hunting area.  I don’t know who had the idea, but the Elders wanted to send the Thurman’s a picture of them doing just what the note said.  We went back to the Elders trailer to figure out how to “Suck these Ducks”  Elder Collins managed to cover the ducks head with a plastic bag and shove the whole thing into his mouth, as you can see from the picture, how happy he was about it.  Elder Losse, who comes from a hunting background, decided to cut the head off and bite down on the stub to make it look like it was in his mouth.  We were excited to send the film off to be developed.  The Elders picked the best shot and sent it as a postcard to the Thurman’s. 
 

The interesting thing is I still use “Suck a Duck to this day.  I used it all through my time at design school, where people picked it up from me.  My friend in class started to copy me.  I understood that, she hung out with me, but then it began to spread, I would be in the Fashion work room to hear the phrase coming from students in different semesters.  I was amazed at how far reaching my funny phrase had become when I was walking to class and heard a complete stranger in the graphic design program shout “Suck a Duck!!”, in his frustration at his computer.  Who knows how far this funny little phrase has traveled, most of the students came from different states across the nation.  Someone in Minnesota could be saying, “Suck a Duck don’t cha know.”

 

So, a cute little antedote from my life, but the "Suck a Duck" phrase came back to me when I started working with children.  I try to never swear.  I do not like the black cloud of spiritual pollution I hear come from those words.  To me they aren't bad because society says they are bad.  Those words are bad because of the feelings they provoke, so when I started working with children in the 6th grade and children with behaviour problems the "Suck a Duck" phrase came back to me as a substitute phrase for them.  Oh, the kids loved it when I shouted out "Suck a Duck!"  with a real dose of frustration behind it.  They loved all the people, adults mainly, who turned their heads in surprise.  For them it gave the same thrill as a bad word.  I was happy to do it for those kids.  I wanted to show them that they didn't have to act a certain way because that was the only way they knew how to act.   Those kids in my 6th grade class ran with the phrase.  I was laughing when I sat down at lunch and heard some seniors I didn't know using "Suck a Duck!" in the middle of the lunch area.

 

I know for many a person swearing doesn't mean much, but I don't want to be exposed to those words.  I shrivel up inside and I have the same reaction as though I burned my fingers.  I do not want to be around that person.  To me it is a black spot on their soul.  That is one of my hates about Netflix.  Movies and Comedians that I see on TV are no longer bleeped out and I get so uncomfortably that I have to turn the show off.  I understand that the meaning of these bad words have become the only way to describe certain situations.  I get that  I understand it being used once or twice in a show.  That is fine.  It is using the f-word as an adjective that drives me crazy.  Look at the effing car.  Look at the effing bird.  Look at my effing mother.  Please!!!  Have a bit more class than that.  People sound like subhuman neanderthals with no education.  It is just one of my personal dislikes and a major pet peeve.  I have no wish to have that is my life, so if I am able to cut even one kid off at the curve than I hope my shouting "Suck a Duck" will always work.