Childhood leftovers contribute to odd behavior. People act out what they haven’t received or show which lessons they still need to learn. Conversely, the main character can be on the receiving end of the lesson learned. Odd behavior can result from arrested development either unilaterally or in specific areas of personality. Some odd behavior seems contrived, and yet there is truth in the old adage, fact is stranger than fiction. Consider the following:
• A supposed friend, who invites herself to dinner, makes pointed, meant-to-be-seen glances at her watch. Cutting the dinner short, she borrows a fifth of vodka and leaves for a party.
• A friend laughs in an unctuous manner when she is putting on a false face.
• A friend names the dollar amount of her family fortune, and then looks you in the face as if wanting you to name the dollar amount of yours.
• The daughter who tells a story at the family dinner table seemingly to entertain, but the story horrifies those in attendance and reveals the mother to be narrow-minded and punitive. Those in attendance experience the awkward moment, but for those people in the know, the daughter experiences a triumphant moment.
• Persons who assume superiority, casting friends in the role of idiot, as if they want idiot friends.
• The father who demands his daughter travel two states away to visit him even though he knows her 17 year old son has been hospitalized.
• The daughter who finally asks her mother, “Is it all about you?” The mother replies by saying, “I don’t see why not.”
• The mother who questions everyone’s judgment, but then she displays little wisdom herself.
• Those who demand invitations to events when the hosts know they’re not a good fit.
But then on the other hand…
• You’re attending a party where you know no one and can’t figure out why the host invited you, until she announces to all assembled that you make extraordinary gravy and invites you into the kitchen.
The characters in these situations aren’t criminals, but they display odd, boorish, outlandish or unconventional behavior. Have you experienced odd behavior in your life? Do you portray odd instances in your fiction?
There is a nameless member of my extended family who has said things like, "Each bridesmaid was prettier than the one who came in before her." KInd? Maybe but she said it to the first bridesmaid in line.
ReplyDeleteYes, people can say the most unkind things. I've tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I usually find in time that there is a pointedness that finds its mark, and I have to conclude that those comments have purpose behind them. The deficiency is their own.
ReplyDeleteWhen my husband died, my sister to console me said that the good die young. As the remaining member of the partnership, that seemed a strange comment and not consoling. But I'm sure she meant well.
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