Prohibition, The F Word and Me.

“This is a 21 and up drinking tour about breaking the law in the United States for 13 years. That is a very adult topic. I am assuming that since you bought tickets for this tour you are adults who can handle such adult topics. I do know what some of you are thinking right now. 'Why is that 12 year old girl telling me I’m an adult?' I am an adult and I’m old enough to be leading this tour. As an adult, I will be using colorful language. So get used to it pretty fucking quick because it’s just gonna start rolling out.” –Sydney Back, Chicago Prohibition Tours Disclaimer

This tiny blurb of a disclaimer changed the way my tour sees me.

I started working for Chicago Prohibition Tours in June of 2015. By July 2015, I had been told 3 separate times that the tour was interesting enough without cursing. I was told by a woman two women over 40 and a review on the tour’s website. I began to wonder whether I was coming on too strong. I softened up for a couple of weeks afraid to say a single bad word. I started replacing “shit” with “crap” and “fuck” with “freak”. I eventually started to realize that I didn’t like to say those words. One of the reasons I signed on to do this tour was because my boss cussed in his tour. It made me feel like my stand up background would finally be useful in a job setting. It felt wrong that I was being told to stop doing one of the main things I liked about the tour in the first place. The no nonsense, adult attitude of the tour. As I was talking about Carrie Nation smashing up bars, the Anti-Saloon League threatening and bribing politicians, and watching all of these tourists enjoy high quality cocktails, I was being told that, “the cussing was too much.” 
I quickly realized it wasn’t me as a tour guide or the tour itself. There was a factor that I had not ever come into contact with until now.

You see, my boss, a burly, bearded Chicago native in his 30s was wrote and lead the tour for the first year after its inception. He immediately has agency in front of large groups of people.

I was a 21 year old blonde haired blue eyed woman. Most of our tour demographic have children my age. I’m from Ohio which means if someone were to walk up to me right now and push me, I would apologize to them. I had never had a public speaking job unless you consider asking customers if they want a Target Red Card a performance. I admit I was nervous. But I loved the history I was regurgitating and was trying to get better even on my days off. I remember being in the shower, on the train, in bed, reciting the tour. I didn’t want to be the reason a customer didn’t understand or love this history.

Too much cussing still seemed like a strange critique. I thought one of the most interesting parts of the tour was the ability to cuss and call out bull shit.

In the back of my head there was always a little voice telling me what it probably was. A young woman cussing. How horrible. They didn’t care about the opinions that I gave but the words I used to give those opinions. The “F’ word was a no-no but comparing the brainwashing tactics of the WCTU to the Nazi’s was perfectly understandable. It wasn't me. It was people's perceptions of me, what they thought a girl should or shouldn't be doing or saying. 

Since that time, I have not backed down from the cussing. I say the disclaimer at the top of this post as a way to show my dominance. I agree it’s a little harsh but I know that I have to work twice as hard for people to respect me. I didn’t do the research. I didn’t write the tour. I do give the information in a way that keeps people coming back. I love the information, history, lessons to be learned from this era and want to share it with others. I’m no longer going to put up with bull shit. There is one big lesson I’ve learned from my 3 years in Chicago and 2 years of doing this tour: Sometimes people need to be told, “fuck off”. If you don’t like a 21 and up tour where a grown ass woman cusses, maybe you should stay home. We have plenty of customers that either love it or are old enough to put aside a few cuss words in the name of history.  

I'm happy to say that in the last year and a half, there have been no more complaints for my cussing. To to that I say, "fuck yeah!" 

Thanks for listening. Come back again.