DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Bad Manners and Brimstone
HTML https://badmanners.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Life in General
*****************************************************
#Post#: 23637--------------------------------------------------
She stole my story!! (Accidentally, I'm sure)
DIR By: JXB1000
Date: January 9, 2019, 3:43 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I have a much beloved anecdote from when my daughter - now an
adult - was 6. It's not like I trot it out all the time - but
still, something fondly recalled and occasionally brought up.
It involves her and lifelong friends, Family B.
Last summer, a mutual acquaintance (Friend C) told that same
story at lunch but with her daughter as the center. Due to the
ages of kids involved, Friend C came into the circle 2 years
later with the younger kids we have that are same age as her
only child. I was thrown for a loop, but hardly felt I could
say, it wasn't YOUR daughter who came home from Family B's house
and said that, it was MINE - at least a year before you knew
them!.
The thing is, we've all been friends many years; Friend C isn't
the kind of person to do something like that intentionally. So
that means she's gotten confused over time about a cute incident
that happened years ago, before she was part of this circle of
friends. A story she heard from me initially and has since
accidentally incorporated into her own family lore. Since then
I've heard her re-tell the story twice.
Ugh. There's really nothing to do. Friend C believes what she
is saying. It's just darned irritating.
(Note, the incident is way too unique that both kids said/did
"the cute thing".)
#Post#: 23643--------------------------------------------------
Re: She stole my story!! (Accidentally, I'm sure)
DIR By: jpcher
Date: January 9, 2019, 4:32 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
LOL! Curious minds need to know the story! Any chance you can
share?
(wink, wink, it might be important as to how we respond. ;D)
Is there any chance that Friend C was passing it off as an urban
legend type of thing?
#Post#: 23645--------------------------------------------------
Re: She stole my story!! (Accidentally, I'm sure)
DIR By: Thitpualso
Date: January 9, 2019, 4:58 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
First of all, JXB1000, welcome to the forums. [emoji4]
It’s certainly annoying to have a good story hijacked but, is it
possible to take this as a compliment? If the story’s that
good, friend C may have liked it so much she led herself to
believe that her child did what your child did (or wished her
child had done).
If it’s that important, can you and friend C sit down together
over a cup of tea and bring up the matter in a friendly way?
#Post#: 23652--------------------------------------------------
Re: She stole my story!! (Accidentally, I'm sure)
DIR By: guest657
Date: January 9, 2019, 6:54 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Erm...I have done this before. I have an eccentricly unreliable
memory, and a vivid imagination. I had no idea how unreliable,
until I was brought up short years ago.
I was telling a really funny anecdote about encountering a
tourist on the street who made a hilarious remark...and my
co-worker turned to me and said, "You know, *I* told that story
to you."
I was flabbergasted. On further consideration, I realized she
was quite right. It was very disorienting, because it seemed so
real. But it was a valuable experience, because it taught me
where one of my weak spots is, and I've been much more careful
ever since. (It's been especially valuable when dealing with
people who try to gaslight me. I always get independent
confirmation or check outside references/sources.)
I say you should mention it next time you hear her telling the
story. She won't feel good about it at the moment, but it will
benefit her to know.
#Post#: 23666--------------------------------------------------
Re: She stole my story!! (Accidentally, I'm sure)
DIR By: Lula
Date: January 10, 2019, 6:12 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I think in this situation, particularly if there are other
people present, you could be forgiven for excitedly interrupting
her--"Ooh, I've told you the story about Little JB, right? When
she blah blah blah...[and maybe give details she wouldn't know
to place in her story]" If nothing else, just to prevent
accusations of "stealing" her story should you ever have an
occasion to tell yours in front of the same witnesses.
#Post#: 23686--------------------------------------------------
Re: She stole my story!! (Accidentally, I'm sure)
DIR By: Hanna
Date: January 10, 2019, 10:05 am
---------------------------------------------------------
So funny how the mind works!
A friend of mine in high school once told us a very sad story
about someone she knew whose father had gotten stuck in the
chimney playing Santa Claus. She kept sharing more details until
it finally clicked and I said “Uh, Nina? That happened on the
movie Gremlins.”
#Post#: 23698--------------------------------------------------
Re: She stole my story!! (Accidentally, I'm sure)
DIR By: GardenGal
Date: January 10, 2019, 11:52 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I'm at the age now (72) where I've begun to realize that some of
the stories I tell about my own life refer to things that
happened so long ago that I can barely remember them. Mostly I
can remember the story, not the actual event, if that makes
sense.
#Post#: 23715--------------------------------------------------
Re: She stole my story!! (Accidentally, I'm sure)
DIR By: JXB1000
Date: January 10, 2019, 3:32 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: jpcher link ---
>
> LOL! Curious minds need to know the story! Any chance you can
share?
>
> (wink, wink, it might be important as to how we respond. ;D)
>
> Is there any chance that Friend C was passing it off as an
urban legend type of thing?
>
--- End Quote ---
Unfortunately, if my circle of friends ever saw this site - they
would recognize instantly and hurt feelings would ensue. The
comment was very specific about something in Friend B's house.
Totally not this but like "oh they had a purple ottoman so they
must be raising earthworms". I mean just a crazy connection
that sounds cute coming out of a kid's mouth - but odds against
anyone else making same remark is is astronomical.
#Post#: 23718--------------------------------------------------
Re: She stole my story!! (Accidentally, I'm sure)
DIR By: JXB1000
Date: January 10, 2019, 3:40 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I definitely understand how the history of stories gets muddy
after years, and indeed same thing can happen to more than one
person. (Although not in this case).
Long, long ago when I used to read Reader's Digest and enjoyed
their humor columns I remember someone offering an anecdote
about trying to give their child two baby aspirin for leg pain
and she/he responding that only ONE leg hurt so they only needed
ONE pill.
As a mom, had that exact thing happen to me when my son was
young! And - smart as I believe him to be - he was not reading
old Reader's Digests in pre-school.
Thanks for all the support. Mostly just venting...
#Post#: 23750--------------------------------------------------
Re: She stole my story!! (Accidentally, I'm sure)
DIR By: oogyda
Date: January 11, 2019, 7:06 am
---------------------------------------------------------
My sister has gifted me with a subscription to a magazine for
many years. I don't know where she found it, but I have NEVER
seen it on a magazine rack in stores around here. Anyway, it
comes out every other month and has a multitude of photographs,
a few articles on specific places and some anecdotal stories on
living in "the country" and "children say the darndest things".
I had just received my copy of the magazine when a poster on a
now defunct etiquette board posted one of the children's stories
as something her mother told her she herself (the poster) had
done.
I didn't mention the similarities, but I do wonder.
*****************************************************
Page 1 of 2
DIR Next Page