A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I'm way into quotes, and this one is easily my favorite (even though I'm not a huge RWE fan). Here are a few random foolish consistencies, IMO:
1. Stopping at stop signs (I'm kidding, sort of, but if stop signs were replaced with yield signs, the world would be a better place).
2. Tipping for percentage of the bill (this is one I consistently do myself, though I'll normally tip a greater percentage at places like IHOP, etc. where the waiter/waitress works just as hard as some hoity-toity restaurant minus the bread crumb removal. And, though this is something I don't have to worry about b/c of my distaste for it, I never understood tipping for a fancy-pants bottle of wine - perhaps it's not even SOP (standard operating procedure) - unless there's some sort of sommelier involved)
3. Writing to a trend (you've got to stay within word counts; isn't that enough? If you want to make a name for yourself, you've got to start a trend - or be there near the beginning; it may be a long shot, but as Henry David Thoreau said: I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.)
Full disclosure: my current WIP has vampires in it (my first story to include such); however, my vampires are not the MCs, nor are they the MCs love interests; they are 13-year-old soul sucking antagonists.
So, are there any foolish consistencies you encounter, observe, and/or ignore?
ALL. THE. TIME.
ReplyDeleteChecks are my biggest one, I think. There are times when I want a record of payment, sure, but we need to think of a better way in today's world. Mostly they just annoy me at grocery stores, I think.
There are definitely more, but I'm a little under the weather today so I can't think of them at the moment.
People's ability to be ignorant drivers drives me crazy. I live in a community largely comprised of seniors. I try to drive only to town in the evening when they are sure to be tucked in bed.
ReplyDeleteMy inhability to write my WIP and blog at the same time. I think I'm in need of kissing you all goodbye for a few weeks here soon so I can get some work done.
My WIP doesn't have even one vampire. :) (Surprising...yes I know.) I prefer something which could be real, over the reality that I have that vampires do not exist.
For the record, I love Ralph Waldo Emerson - and I think yield signs are a VERY bad idea - that would require confidence in human drivers to, uh, yield to their fellow humans. Forgive me, but most of them already have trouble with the stop signs, and their meaning is pretty darn clear.
ReplyDeleteYay! Two differences in one day! So, we weren't separated at birth! Oh, happy day! ;-)
Laura, what I'm saying is that you're approaching a stop sign and there's nobody else around, why should you stop? So, perhaps not a yield sign, but a conditional stop sign (b/c I do agree that most drivers suck :) -- that's how I treat stop signs -- if there's nobody else coming, I may do a token slow down, but I rarely stop unless there's a blue and white nearby.
ReplyDeleteOHHHH! I get it. Then, yes, I'm in agreement - Dan and I do the same thing. When no one's around, we do the token slow-down, look for sneaky coppers, then move along.
ReplyDeleteAs I hit "Post Comment," I thought that's what you might have meant... but I was so excited about disagreeing with you... for once. Nerts!
I like the idea of a conditional stop... I think those are called a "California Stop" last time I checked.
ReplyDeleteHa - I think I'd heard them called Missouri or Mississippi stops, but California makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteBane, is your doggie a black Lab? I might have already told you there's one in my book. It's a girl dog though, named Stacy.
ReplyDeleteyeah, a ubiquitous black Lab (as my wife calls it). I've actually got a yellow Lab in my WIP - I've found that it's a bit of a PITA including a dog in some of the action scenes.
ReplyDeleteMy dog is action less for the most part... Likes being under the kitchen table for the most part. Wakes people up all night, and is just a dog. But a smart one...
ReplyDeleteI have two dogs and a rabbit in my novel. None are particularly action-oriented. (Just thought I'd jump in!)
ReplyDeleteLaura I love rabbits... I collect them. :) Not real live ones, just things.
ReplyDeleteI once had a poster that said something to the effect of, "just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it makes sense." That's probably my pet peeve of foolish consistencies; people doing things just because they were told that's how it is done, with utterly no understanding of the bigger picture.
ReplyDeleteRenee, so true in so many aspects of life.
ReplyDelete