/ 25 July 2007

Old cuss faces eviction from retirement home

A woman (73) faces eviction from a retirement home in Halifax in eastern Canada for, among other things, her salty language, it was reported on Tuesday.

Mary Vaughan told the Globe and Mail newspaper she was once offended by profanity, but learned to cuss a generation ago when she lived in the northern Yukon territories where foul language was commonplace.

She said she practiced swearing and eventually perfected it: “I sat in front of the mirror and I said it over and over and over,” she told the daily.

“I would say it smiling, frowning and laughing. And I finally learned to say it without being offended.”

Staff at the independent-living seniors’ residence accused Vaughan of telling them to “fuck off” while refusing to apologise, as well as gossiping and using the common room without proper permission.

Other tenants and their families also complained.

Vaughan, who was recently diagnosed with cancer, has until the end of August to leave. But she says she has no place to go.

“I’m not saying I didn’t do anything wrong, but is that enough to send a 73-year-old woman out in the street?” she said. — AFP