Yesterday PSP reported that he and Irma are getting the house painted. The last time such a thing happened was in 1986, when Mr. Reinhardt, the 4th grade teacher at my elementary school, painted "the Somis house" (as we call her).
PSP: We're getting the house painted.
A-L: Cool, is Mr. Reinhardt still spending his school vacations painting houses?
PSP: Don't think so.
A-L: Do you remember when he painted the Somis house?
PSP: Sure do. And you better believe the painter heard all about it today.
A-L: Wow, he unlocked a bonus story.
(A bonus story is a story not entirely relevant to the situation at hand, and/or not interesting to the listener. Often can be totally irrelevant, and leads to a story set in Finland. It's a conversation feature perfected by some of our family members, who are Finnish, and sisters, and over the age of 70. Although they've been practicing the art of the bonus story since their youth. Not age related. No known treatment.)
PSP: Yes, he sure did. And I see him unlocking a few more bonus stories over the next couple days.
A-L: Did you advise him that the method for "disarming" the bonus story is to answer the question "Have I told you about xxxxx?" with "Yes"?
PSP: Yes. I mean, no.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
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6 comments:
I've been wiki-leaked! My best secret defense mechanism for keeping the bonus story contained is now out for the public to see. It's a good thing that bonus-story-tellers are not avid blog readers.
You have been wiki-leaked. I'd love to hear any comments you have on my definition.
The same strategy applies to the question "Do you remember ?". ALWAYS answer "yes" to that answer no matter who it is.
That last comment didn't come out right. The question was: "Do you remember PERSON ?"
In addition to bonus story avoidance, there is a whole set of strategies for bonus story interruption/termination. I can't give away too many secret techniques here, but the obvious things include lighting a match to set off a fire alarm, sudden swerving (when driving), etc. Not that I have done any of these ;-)
Thanks Gary, you add some excellent points.
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