I’m Not the Me of Then or That

Dandy Looks Eagerly Ahead

Recently, I’ve noticed an increased trend toward quoting people completely out of context.

(Please note, in this I’m not talking about politics or politicians.  That’s a completely different issue and one I am not addressing.)

There was the list of inspirational quotes credited to various people.  In several cases, lines from books were quoted, the quote credited not to the character, but to the author.

To me, there’s a big difference.  Certainly, some of my characters have said things that I would really hate to have credited as my opinion on a certain subject.

However, even when the quote was spoken by the person, speaking as the person (not as a character, a song lyric, a line in a play), time, situation, and a lot of other things can influence the opinion expressed, the thought being shaped.

The same person speaking completely differently on the same topic is not necessarily hypocrisy or lack of conviction; it may simply be that some life experience has changed them.

When Roger Zelazny died—for those of you new to my biographical details, I was living with Roger when he died, was there when he died—I was hit hard on a lot of levels.  One of the things that bothered me the most was that if through some miracle Roger would suddenly return from the dead, he wouldn’t know me, because I’d changed, and what had changed me was being there and watching him stop breathing and realizing that no matter how much he and I had worked for another resolution, we’d lost.

So, me before June of 1995, me after June of 1995.  Different person.  Me a year later, different again.

This past weekend, in the midst of a lively chat with a good friend, the subject of a certain celebrity interview came up.  Said celebrity is quite young, barely a legal adult.  We both agreed that some of the cocky, over-confident statements made should be taken with an awareness that this was an eighteen year-old singer being interviewed.

Certainly, the me of now when compared to the me of eighteen are very different people.  The me of eighteen, for example, really didn’t like little kids very much.  The me of now has grown up enough to realize it wasn’t the kids I disliked; it was the behavior their parents permitted.

These days, I’m quite likely to find talking to the kids, playing a board game, whatever, a lot more interesting than watching the adults posture and pontificate.

English professor me, who still lurks in the background, even though I haven’t taught college since 1994, would very much like for all quotes to be presented in context, neatly dated, and sourced.

Not likely, but me of once upon a time can dream!