PRAL!

So I was sitting here trying to think of something to write and then I thought of a think on which to write.
So here goes:

This is how I learned I love language.

When I was a young boy, my mom and I would go to the supermarket or the Wal-Mart or the Costco or the Kroger, or the whatever, and she'd be shopping and I'd just go around and be in my own little world for an hour and a half.

One time she was at the check-out and she sees the cashier staring at something on the floor and my mom looks over and sees that it's me, flat on my side just spinning around and around. You know like when you're on your side on the ground and you try to walk and you just spin around and around? That was me.

Incidentally, I almost repeated that same feat about 15 years later when I found myself heavily intoxicated in a Wawa. I don't know what to say, except that little kids and drunk people know how to have fun.

But anyway, if I wasn't sweeping the floor with my entire body--lost in my own tragic space epic fantasy, I'd be walking around and eventually I'd see something that I HAD TO HAVE.

My mom explains the difference between me and my sister like this: if my sister ever saw something that she wanted and asked for it, and my mom said no, she'd say okay and put it back. If I wanted something, I would argue, and argue, and argue, and plead, and deal, and haggle, and plot until she gave in.

And up until now I thought I was just being a bratty little kid but I think I'm proud of it now.

Because, what you teach a  small children when you show him that he can argue his way into getting stuff is that language is powerful. Talk is powerful.

Talk can make things happen. And I remember thinking of arguments and thinking of ways I could convince her to let me have whatever crappy thing I wanted.

I mean, first of all, there's the relentlessness. You can't give up if you really want it so you have to keep talking until something sticks. And this is a weekly thing that could last from thirty minutes to well over an hour. It's a long set to fill!

Secondly, inventiveness. You can just rehash old tricks every week. You have to come up with new stuff, or build on the old material, twist and distory and create to get that reaction. If you aren't ready to top yourself, you aren't ready for that Nerf gun.

Finally, and this isn't hard for kids, but you have to commit. When this is THE THING YOU WANT MOST IN THE WORLD EVER you have to show it. Maybe cry a little. Say it like you mean it, little me.

But, whether it's good or not, I think all of that can be applied to comedy.

If memory is the most powerful thing then language is second.

Or in other words, this is all my mom's fault.