Things I Believed
I went down to the store to get some V8 to drink with lunch. A woman and her daughter (I'd guess around 4 years old) stood with me waiting at the corner for the light to change.
"Mummy, what will I be when I grow up?" the little girl asked. The woman replied, "You can be anything you want to be, sweetheart."
The girl was dubious. "Anything?"
Mom nodded, and reaffirmed: "Anything."
The little girl thought about it, the light changed, and we all started off, me outdistancing them fairly quickly. I could still hear the little girl when she piped up behind me, though.
"Mummy," she announced in breathless excitement, "I'm going to be a tiger."
♣ ♣ ♣
This got me thinking: what oddities did I believe when I was younger. I'm sure there were several, but only one leaps up to the fore:
I remember thinking that when you got fired, you got shot. My friend Scott Brown told me his dad had been fired, and I felt very sorry for him. A few days later, I was shocked to see Mr. Brown walking around, perfectly healthy. I debated running over to him and telling him that Scott had said he'd been fired (which was clearly a lie), but ended up holding my tongue and simply telling my parents at supper what a big liar Scott Brown was. They set me straight shortly thereafter.
Oh, here's another one: I thought elephants were called 'nelephants'. A confusing conversation with my mother played out like "Who's On First":
MOM:Look, dear, there's an elephant.
ME :Look, mummy! There's another nelephant!
MOM:Elephant.
ME :What?
MOM:It's called an elephant.
ME :A nelephant?
MOM:Yes.
ME :...that's what I said.
MOM:All right, dear.
ME :I like the nelephants, mummy.
MOM:Elephants.
ME :...what?
If memory serves, that conversation went on for a while longer before I finally understood what Mom was saying.
Oh, and one more (and then I’ll stop, I promise): I watched a television show called "Chez Helene" in Quebec, and she used to read stories. One of the stories was about a boy who very badly wanted a sled, and dreamed about his new sled that night. On the show, they showed a picture of the boy laying in bed, eyes closed, a big smile on his face, with an image of himself sledding down a snowy hill appearing over his head in a thought balloon.
My older brother and I shared a room. That night, after he was asleep, I got out my stool and sat beside his bed, quiet as a little mouse, concentrating on the space over his head, waiting to see what he was dreaming of. Eventually I fell asleep on the stool, and fell off with a crash. I can't recall if I ever tried the experiment again, but I was convinced for some time that our dreams were visible over our heads.
♣ ♣ ♣
How about you? Did you believe anything odd?
"Mummy, what will I be when I grow up?" the little girl asked. The woman replied, "You can be anything you want to be, sweetheart."
The girl was dubious. "Anything?"
Mom nodded, and reaffirmed: "Anything."
The little girl thought about it, the light changed, and we all started off, me outdistancing them fairly quickly. I could still hear the little girl when she piped up behind me, though.
"Mummy," she announced in breathless excitement, "I'm going to be a tiger."
♣ ♣ ♣
This got me thinking: what oddities did I believe when I was younger. I'm sure there were several, but only one leaps up to the fore:
I remember thinking that when you got fired, you got shot. My friend Scott Brown told me his dad had been fired, and I felt very sorry for him. A few days later, I was shocked to see Mr. Brown walking around, perfectly healthy. I debated running over to him and telling him that Scott had said he'd been fired (which was clearly a lie), but ended up holding my tongue and simply telling my parents at supper what a big liar Scott Brown was. They set me straight shortly thereafter.
Oh, here's another one: I thought elephants were called 'nelephants'. A confusing conversation with my mother played out like "Who's On First":
MOM:Look, dear, there's an elephant.
ME :Look, mummy! There's another nelephant!
MOM:Elephant.
ME :What?
MOM:It's called an elephant.
ME :A nelephant?
MOM:Yes.
ME :...that's what I said.
MOM:All right, dear.
ME :I like the nelephants, mummy.
MOM:Elephants.
ME :...what?
If memory serves, that conversation went on for a while longer before I finally understood what Mom was saying.
Oh, and one more (and then I’ll stop, I promise): I watched a television show called "Chez Helene" in Quebec, and she used to read stories. One of the stories was about a boy who very badly wanted a sled, and dreamed about his new sled that night. On the show, they showed a picture of the boy laying in bed, eyes closed, a big smile on his face, with an image of himself sledding down a snowy hill appearing over his head in a thought balloon.
My older brother and I shared a room. That night, after he was asleep, I got out my stool and sat beside his bed, quiet as a little mouse, concentrating on the space over his head, waiting to see what he was dreaming of. Eventually I fell asleep on the stool, and fell off with a crash. I can't recall if I ever tried the experiment again, but I was convinced for some time that our dreams were visible over our heads.
♣ ♣ ♣
How about you? Did you believe anything odd?