Canoerebel
Posts: 21100
Joined: 12/14/2002 From: Northwestern Georgia, USA Status: offline
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Proof I take myself too seriously in real life, if not in the game (and I do, and I realize that I do): 1. I presented a program on the Battle of Chickamauga at a local history museum on the 150th anniversary of the battle. Afterwards, an elderly man approached me and said, "You take this stuff seriously." (I don't think it was a compliment.) 2. Last March, I spoke to a gathering of sizeable lawyers and judges at the courthouse about prominent local lawyer who played an interesting role in the Civil War. Afterwards, a young lawyer approached me and said, "You should be a preacher." (He did not mean that as a compliment.) 3. Many years ago, circa 1980, I was flying home from Atlanta to Miami for a college break. I happened to be seated beside a pretty coed from Purdue, about my same age. We talked back and forth of our various interests. After I told her of mine (history, birdwatching, hiking, etc.) she said, "You act like your 40 years old." (Arg, she didn't mean it as a criticism, but it hit hard; instead of wooing the coed, I'd driven her screaming into the night.) 4. In September 1979, while a freshman at the University of Georgia, I was standing at a bus stop in Athens. A young coed, a bit older than me, approached. "Do you have a plant?" she asked. I thought for a moment, and then helpfully replied, "I think Sears has a gardening department." Ten minutes later, on the bus to my dorm, I realized she was asking for weed. Now, all of that is the truth, but perhaps not the whole truth. I do a lot of public speaking and teaching, and most of the feedback is positive. But I realize that my earnest manner isn't universally pleasing. It grates on some.
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