That's Not How I Remembered It!

How are you seen? How will you be remembered?

Perception is a curious thing.

We all have our own opinions. We share some with our friends and neighbours. Others, we clash and may be completely polarised in how we see something. But how does it all work?

And, once an opinion is formed, it is curious to me how they can change and morph into something else altogether.

A few things have happened in recent times to make me wonder about how perception works. Last week I watched The Money Pit, with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long. I had been talking about it, reminiscing about the "good old days" when movies were movies, without the need for special effects. Sam had happened to see it for sale and bought it for me.

Now, I had went on at length about how funny it was, about how well written it was, about how, as an actor, under-appreciated Shelley Long was...

The movie, that follows a young couple as they buy and renovate an old house, was awful. I can't imagine what I had been thinking. Well, to be honest it wasn't completely awful...but it was not nearly as good as I remember. I assume, at a much younger age, I had seen it and been impressed. Now that I am older and wiser, I clearly (!) have developed a more sophisticated taste in movies.

I find it quite crushing to think there may be dozens more movies that I "love", until I happen to see them again. It's a dilemma. Never again watch old movies that I love, or watch them and no longer enjoy them? What to do?

Then, yesterday, I was sitting at tea break (yes, someone as fabulous as me still works a day job!) chatting to a lady I hadn't seen before.

She moved a magazine away from her, saying she couldn't read "that". It was a magazine focused on the truly exciting life of 4-wheel driving. It was implied that it wouldn't interest her as it was a "bloke's" mag. I had said that I had briefly leafed through it, but found it hard to read because of the poor grammar used.

She then made an odd statement. She said, "Well, it is aimed at macho guys".

I replied with "Macho men should still be able to read and write".

So, it seemed, this lady, and so probably countless others, assumed that if you are a man, and particularly a "macho", masculine, perhaps "blue-collar" guy, they wouldn't either care about poor grammar, or wouldn't even notice.

I'm from a working class family. My mother is a cleaner. My dad worked digging up roads and laying pipes, after spending time in the forces. Both my parents read, a lot. In fact, my dad consumes several books a week. It concerned me that people could, and do, assume that social status could so directly determine your education or appreciation of our language, written or otherwise.

Of course, I'm aware there can be a link demonstrated between social class, opportunities and education, but it isn't always as black and white as some would seem comfortable with.

It comes down to perception. It leads me to wonder how I am seen and how I will be remembered.

I will be pondering this for a long time I think.