Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Given histories on the Internet, the good news is that I can find the correct date and event. The bad news is, I no longer have the excuse that, “Maybe I didn’t remember correctly.” That is just lazy.

I am making notes of my life for my children and grandchildren. The sort of, “Did you know I once lived in that place for a few years?”

The easy way to make historical notes is to depend on my memory and just type words. If I put the wrong place and the wrong date, so be it.

The more difficult way to make historical notes is to find the correct place and date on the Internet. That correct information is out there.

In the last several decades, a few Presidents have been caught using the easy way with their past and their boasts. “I remember as a kid these terrible shameful things happening. As President, we will be different.” That is the start of story. The end of the story is that a reporter or two will investigate the history, i.e., look it up online, and find that the President sort of exaggerated as politicians are prone to do. The events of their past never occurred. Ouch. It is tougher to brag about yourself when you can’t just make up history.

Well, even for folks just trying to record some places and dates to bore their grand kids, there is the easy way and there is the more difficult and accurate way. Five minutes of research online brings about the more accurate way. Rats. It was so much fun just to make it up and brag a bit about my past that really didn’t occur. That’s one of the pitfalls of having grandchildren who are so smart and resourceful.