“He who is not very strong in memory should not meddle with lying.”
- (Michel deMontaigne—1533-1592)
One of the bedrooms with bunk beds was the designated room for the children to play. One stipulation while playing in that room was don’t shut or lock the door. OK, you are ahead of me.
Slam goes the door and you hear it being locked. The instructions are now, “Unlock the door.” There’s mostly silence on the other side of the door, but you can begin to hear a little whispering noise. You hear the lock become unlocked and slowly the door opens. Reminded once again of the instructions that were previously given, “Don’t shut and lock the door,” I get about ten feet back toward the living room and slam goes the door again and you can hear the lock engage.
I am back at the door. “Open the door,” and my voice is a little more stern now. The door opens once again. “OK, now, who shut and locked this door?” Two little people peer at you, but neither speaks. “OK, who shut and locked this door?” The two little cousins, four-year-old Luke and three- year-old Delaney, are now looking up at me. I guess they figure it is time to speak. But first, both take a step back hoping for reinforcements, but none appears. The oldest speaks, “I did not shut the door or lock the door. She did.” Oops. I think it’s time to throw someone under the bus. Cousin or no cousin, I can’t take this rap. His plea of innocence has come before the bar. My head then turns to the littlest one, Delaney. She looked at me with those big blue eyes, and brushing back some blond curls, decided to speak. As she speaks in her little dutchy voice, she points at the door, and with her cousin standing next to her, she said to me, “I did not see me do dat!” Perry Mason could not have better prepared or coached one of his clients. Now notice she selected her words very carefully. She did not say that she did not shut and lock the door, she said, “I did not see me do dat.” Sounds like early Bill Clinton influence, a little language manipulation.
About that time I was ready to split my sides laughing. The judge had to quickly leave the courtroom. “OK, you kids don’t shut the door and lock it again. You hear me?”
March 30, 2010
Keep on,
Larry Adamson