Posted by Pattie on 3/29/2002 04:12:00 PM

April Fool's Day is coming up. I remember as a kid I used to want to play tricks on this day, but I never did because I was afraid someone might get me worse. I did try a couple of silly things, but mostly it just scared me. The most gullible I've been was actually only two or three years ago when I heard Deborah Tannen being interviewed on NPR regarding the discovery of how to translate dog speak. I sat for close to 15 minutes believing that someone had figured out a way to translate dog barks into English before realizing that what day it was and how preposterous the story was. What tipped me off? One of the dogs was "asking" for ice cream. Until then it was simple stuff, like hear a bark, then the translator said "walk me." At least I know there is some limit to my gullibility.

I guess I spent a great deal of my childhood afraid. I've told different stories of why I was afraid over the years. I guess the current narrative has to do with the place of women in the world, the place of fat in the world.

As I grow older, I'm less afraid, bolder. Life is too short to be too afraid.

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