In an old episode of Matlock that Mrs. RWP and I were watching recently, Ben Matlock's young assistant, Cliff Lewis, asked eccentric FBI Agent Ed Wingate how to proceed after he (that is, Cliff) received a kiss on his cheek from Matlock's private investigator Jerri Stone and wondered whether she might be interested in him romantically.
"As the old saying goes, 'Slow and steady wins the race'", said Wingate, an obvious reference to Aesop's well-known fable The Tortoise and the Hare. Cliff looked confused and replied, "I thought it was 'the race is to the swift'".
Cliff was mistaken.
Sometimes people think I have a photographic memory. I do not, though my memory is very good. (I hasten to add here that several decades ago in Florida my friend Gene H. told our mutual friend Dick V. that I had a photogenic memory.)
A very wise man, possibly King Solomon, wrote a very long time ago (3000 years) that "the race is not [repeat, NOT] to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned, but time and chance happen to them all". You can find it in a book we now call Ecclesiastes.
All I'm saying is that when an actor portraying a minor character in a decades-old semi-popular television series speaks words written by a scriptwriter who didn't do enough research, I not only notice, I tell my friends about it.
As you may have surmised by now, this post is unimportant in the overall scheme of things, and totally without redeeming social value, but my hope is that it managed to take your mind off the world's troubles for a few minutes.
P.S. - In spite of my very good memory, my inability to reply to commnts on my own blog or leave comments on anyone else's blog continues. Tasker Dunham suggested that it might be because I do not sign on using Google Chrome. I prefer using Mozilla Firefox and DuckDuckGo, so perhaps I am shooting myself in the foot.
Yes, I expect you are shooting yourself in the foot.
ReplyDeleteSee my reply to Jinksy below. I am once again able to reply to comments on my own blog!
DeleteI love the idea of a photogenic memory.
ReplyDeleteMe too!
DeleteIt was Rachel who told me that Chrome usually seems to work.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any pictures of your photogenic memory?
I have no pictures of my photogenic memory, which is a shame, really.
DeleteFor goodness sake don't shoot yourself in the foot. I'm told it hurts a lot.
ReplyDeleteI have now stopped shooting myself in the foot and can once again reply to comments on my own blog,. All I had to do was take Tasker's and Rachel's advice and sign in to Google using Chrome. Some people take longer to learn than others.
DeleteStop shooting yourself in the foot! I too NOTICE when people misquote or use the wrong word in articles and shows. One that really gets me is when people say "The proof is in the pudding." NO. The proof of the pudding is in the eating! It's discouraging to me that people insist on saying things wrong so many times, that "they" (whomever they may be) just change it to the wrong version so that anyone who says it the right way, is then wrong! It makes me want to give up. But I won't! xoxo
ReplyDeleteAnother one is "sooner than later" when what the person means is "sooner rather than later"....
DeleteI'm fairly certain that I can leave comments,, and receive them from your good self - this being a test run of sorts... :-) ?!
ReplyDeleteI took Tasker's and Rachel's suggestions and signed onto Google using Chrome, reset my passowrd, and now I'm hoping this comment is accepted. Keepiong my fingers crossed.
Delete