"You can't teach an old dog new tricks--because it's illegal." --Michael Scott
I know I've already posted this quotation on my blog, but given today's subject I thought you'd forgive me a repeat. Plus, when is Michael Scott a bad idea?
What is age anyway but the day you get sent to earth, and yet it rules so many things: who gets to tell whom what is right and wrong, who gets to sit on public buses and who ought to stand...it's just a succession of numbers with maturity levels attached. At 8 you're accountable, at 18 you can vote, at 24-- you can work at scout camp.
We categorize ourselves in many ways (the old and young or the smart and dumb or the man and woman) so that we are each a string of adjectives, depending on which side of the binary we fall. We love distinguishing ourselves and establishing social rank however we can. If we didn't have numbers we'd come up with another way to name age, I'm sure.
Birthdays get me thinking this way. And funerals. And spending afternoons with my sister's children who are so small against the earth, with hearts bigger than mouths to express it. ! I have to go of a sudden. Finish the rest on your own.
4 comments:
no!! don't go! nevertheless, what a great surprise, a post!
ms. catherine,
i read.
i enjoy.
i'm in france and don't understand. however, thanks to your dedication, i do know how to ask what time it is.
keep blogging.
the skinny
Beautiful thoughts. I hope to see you soon to celebrate a special newborn boy!
hello Catherine, i am pretty new to the world of blogging and have become familiar with only a few blogs. so in my sleepless morning, i decided to take a look around at links from these few blogs and found yours linked from 'the common.' heeding your credo that Michael Scott is never a bad idea, i thought i would share a favorite quote of his. my mom gave me a birthday card last year where Michael's voice rang out when it was opened, 'reverse psychology is an awesome tool. i don't know if you guys know about it, but, you make someone think the opposite of what you believe, and that tricks them into doing something stupid. works like a charm.' as this card eventually became as much a feature of our house as the ping pong table, or sega genesis, it grew very memorable. however, upon seeing the episode it is from, it became hilarious. the office decides to do a white elephant gift for Christmas and when dissatisfied Michael gets a homemade oven mit from Phylis, he decides to change it to 'yankee swap,' in which all the gifts become tradable. yet nobody will trade for the little red oven mit he displays so prominently. finally, as Meredith's turn to swap comes, Michael relays his hope that nobody takes his oven mit. Meredith, rolling her eyes, settles on the mit to please him and Michael, surprised at his good fortune, shouts, 'sssssucker!' the afore mentioned quote follows this splendid scene. sorry if i've annoyed you with this long comment, i know 'brevity is the soul of wit,' so please think not a modern lord Polonius of me.
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