What Made Me Say That? By Linda S. Glaz

Y*I*K*E*S* !

While I was massaging a young patient’s shoulder a few years ago, he informed me he was headed to California to be in movies. I had to ask. What will you be starring in?

“Porn!”

Yikes! But before I could engage the filter on my mouth, I said, “Does your mother know what you’re planning to do?”

Now, I’d like to say this had a happy ending, but let’s face it: I should never have made the comment, and certainly didn’t want to find out that his mom was proud of his future vocation. Yikes times two…

My point is, no matter what we do, how we normally react, we sometimes do and say things that are inappropriate, timed poorly, or just show a different side of ourselves.

Do your characters ever do and say things that are not in keeping with their normal personalities? Do you allow them to be “real”?

Have I learned to curb my comments always? No. Will I try harder, probably, but if faced with a similar situation, I have no doubt I’ll say, “Does your mother know what you’re going to do?”

So, what made me say that? Because as a mom, that’s my nature. In my work place it shouldn’t be. I knew better, but in the end, we are often who and what we shouldn’t be. And that’s what makes us living, breathing human beings.

Let your characters be the same!