blabber

Repeatedly I am shocked to find that people remember what I say.

Okay, that sounds weird. What I mean is for some reason after I speak I completely disregard my own words. Forget what I said, what I was trying to convey. And to be totally honest, when people talk to me I remember the general idea of what they are communicating, but am only able to paraphrase. Never can I repeat anything word for word.

It is a weird trait to have. Every now and then people will come back to me and say something like "Thanks for the advice" or "You were totally right about what you said to me that night."

My response? "I gave you advice? What did I say?" or "What the hell did I tell you?

At that point they refresh my memory "You told me to shut up in meetings" or "You told me he would make a pass at me in the next three months and he did” And it all comes flooding back. If people don't remind me later, I utterly forget what I tell them.

But what I find amazing is that there are so many people out there who remember what I say and take it to heart. It humbles me, because I really should be careful about what I say off the cuff. Or at least I make sure they know that it is theory or opinion, not fact.

My favorite example was from a long, long time ago. I was working in Michigan at the Mongo, and I had this customer that looked exceptionally familiar. We both recognized each other, but could not place from where.

After some back and forth, we realized that he had been a pilot that I had worked with one time a year and a half prior when I was a flight attendant. Such relief to remember where our acquaintance was from!

That is when it got funny. When he pointed out our history he then quickly gestured at his shoes and said, "I remember you!! You told me that you could tell everything about a guy by looking at his shoes! That if I ever wanted to impress a girl to make sure my shoes were neat and kept up. Look! Look!" He said, pointing again at his feet, "Now I always make sure that my shoes are presentable! You were right!"

Okay, you know how many times I have given out that advice? Really?

ONCE. To this guy. And he totally took it as gospel.

I am so full of shit. When I was doing it I was pulling some kind of I know it all crap. His shoes were scuffed and whatnot so I 'predicted' that he was slovenly at home, didn't take care of his things, was lazy etc. Because I read that all from his footwear.

Right. The fact that we were in a plane that seats 26 passengers, two pilots, and one flight attendant for three days didn't give me any insight at all. It was the shoes.

One thing I have been working on (and hopefully succeeding) is giving serious advice when drunk. Because then I get too heavy. So maybe I should just stick to advice on footwear. Helps the economy after all.