I’m about to share a character trait, perhaps a flaw, that I only came to see this afternoon. It happened while walking to my car after work. I passed a couple of people chatting.
As I walked by, the piece of conversation I overheard was, “Yous and her time.” Without pause, my brain started analyzing that small snippet of conversation. It mulled those words over and over trying to make sense of them.
I knew “Yous and her“ was not correct. But what would have been better? “Yours and hers?” “Her and your?” “Hers and your?” My mind kept turning the words over and over trying to decide.
That is when it hit me. I do this all the time without even thinking about it, roll a phrase around in my head when it doesn’t sound right. The mind is trying to make it correct.
The blame lies with Kinko’s and college. Kinko’s because I had to read a lot of handwriting while typing it out on the computer, reworking the written word to be grammatically accurate. College because of all the papers I had to write, word smithing to ensure I was stating what needed to be said in just the right way.
So, if you and I are in conversation, and you see me with a fleeting glaze in my eye, don’t be offended. It just means we said something that just didn’t sound rhythmic to my ears. I’m processing what didn’t make sense, working to make it make sense.
It’s not you, it’s me.
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 