Midnight Musings

Some think that others' perception of them is what they are. Of course, that isn't entirely true, but it is to a degree. You can be completely other than your public persona, but if your behavior is dictated by public opinion then that is what you are at that moment for those people. I think of the image I have of certain friends (mostly male). When I make positive comments in front of their family members, I am often met with derision and a remark like, "Oh, you don't know the *real* him." I may not know them the same way they do but I've known them for years, can read them accurately and love them dearly. Who is to say who the real person is? Sometimes it's a matter of self-esteem. Earlier, a friend asked me who wrote The Grapes of Wrath and when I said, "John...," she cut me off and said no, the name wasn't John. Oddly, I believed her. It actually was John Steinbeck but I automatically assumed I was wrong when she stopped me. I should have had more confidence in my memory or at least pretended I did. There are times when I display more bravado than is necessary to the situation and then there are these times. I yam what I yam, like it or not. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. 'night