Come Again?

In January I started on a piece with an August 1 deadline. The last time I worked on the manuscript, I thought it was probably ready to be submitted except for one thing. I've changed in the six months I've been working on the article. The anger I felt then is gone. The article, if accepted, will come out several months down the road. So what do I do with that?

I was struggling with six words -- to keep them or change them. Somehow "sorry rat a$$ of a man" didn't seem appropriate for me to be saying. After all, what if someone I know reads the article? I run with a straight group. You know, they don't chew, smoke, or cuss, or run with those who do. Then I saw an episode of World's Strictest Parents on TV. One of the teens participating kept saying he didn't give a rat's posterior. Oh. I don't want to sound like him. So I softened it, changing s-r-a-o-a-m to simply rat. But now, the issue is no longer an issue. I hold no hard feelings against the man I was having so much trouble forgiving six months ago. So do I toss the article? Change it?

This is a problem I have putting some things in print. People change. Circumstances change. Once it's in print, our words are chiseled in stone. I hope I can remember to hammer my words thoughtfully and not in a spirit of anger. I don't want to be more of an embarrassment than I sometimes am to my family.