My father died with dementia, but since I can stand on one leg for as long as it takes to explain to a socialist why taxation is theft, I have no worries on that score. Studies show a correlation between poor balance and cognitive decline in older adults, and the inability to stand steadily on one leg can even serve as an early warning sign of brain-health issues. So, happily, it seems I shall remember every exhilarating high and catastrophic low on the rollercoaster that has been my life.
Not that there aren’t things I would like to forget—such as my father stealing from my business without a moment’s thought for the harm it might cause me. Or the occasion when my mother felt compelled to smash my head off the old piano my uncle bought from the nuns in the local convent. I cannot recall how we got that instrument into our fourth-floor flat, but I do remember that when we moved out, it was unceremoniously thrown over the balcony.
It is my fondest memory from the year 2000, when I was running a legal services company, that we refused to believe the Y2K hype that would have cost us a packet and caused endless disruption. Our clients, naturally, demanded assurances that we were Y2K-compliant, so we simply told them what they wanted to hear, kept calm, and carried on.
Two things this long life has taught me:
First, the majority is always wrong, so the wisest course of action is to look at what everyone else is doing and do precisely the opposite.
Second, the four most beautiful words in the English language are: I told you so.
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Posted in response to galenkp's weekend experience
prompt asking: What have you wished you could forget but cannot? and What's your fondest memory from the year 2000
The images are mine
