It's happening more and more. Something enticing is dangled in front of me and I pillage it. I'm not even that sly about it anymore. I blatantly show off my new possession, especially in front of the victim.
The crime?
Mindy tells me a good story about the kids, then I repeat the story to friends as if it's my own.
For example, I appropriated one of her stories this weekend and used in front of her no less than three times. The troubling thing, now that I think about it, is she didn't even call me on it. As I retold this story, complete with exact quotes and intonations of the subjects, she never bothered to tell everyone that I wasn't even there and never heard a word of it first hand. I was tolerated like some kind of eccentric.
The story? Garrett (3) was with his little friend playing with a wooden snake and the following conversation ensued:
Friend: Let's pretend this snake is alive and a mommy snake.
Garrett: But it's not alive
Friend: Let's pretend
Garrett: But it's not
Friend: Just pretend
Garrett: No. It's not alive. And I'm not going to be your friend anymore.
Garrett's inability to pretend is great because it explains so many things about him. He is so literal and stubborn and has never really played with toys. But his last comment was classic because you can tell he has older sisters. He didn't threaten to hit the friend but pulled out the emotional weapons.
Wait!
Did I really steal this story? Did I really think it was that funny that I had to work it into every conversation this weekend?
Is this why my Dad tells the same stories over and over? You get a good laugh with a story and stick with it, whether it's your story or not.
Dude.
3 comments:
I think Garrett needs to come over for a visit...
I laughed so hard when I started reading your blog, I thought to myself, "that's totally what Dad does, he tells other people's stories over and over." I laughed even harder when you acknowledged it. Let's face it, we ALL do it (it's that gene thing again).
I think we have all been guilty of that, Jeff and I take turns. I wouldn't say that it's a habit or anything, just that we have probably done it at least once or twice.
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