Stealing thunder ...

LowTide

July 7 · 

I once gave a gift to someone that I now wish I also owned: a book of sayings and how they came to be. I've mentioned my household's adoration of Sean of the South. He's loaded with sayings — these are some of my recent favorites:

- "She is out like a porch light."
- "The lead guitarist sang 'Brown Eyed Girl' like a donkey with a sinus infection."
- "When I try to dance, I look like the lovechild of Barney Fife and Eleanor Roosevelt."

Sean also spoke of feeling high like a fella driving a ‘63 Stingray Corvette. He was talking about how he felt when he was with his hound dog, Ellie Mae, who left this earth for a better place. He now has a dog named Thelma Lou. (Check him out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/seanofthesouth/)

Some sayings are easier to understand than others, e.g. stealing another person's thunder.

Stealing thunder is something like prematurely leaking a special announcement or beating someone to the "punch line." The joke teller weaves a story and builds a crescendo only to have a thunder thief jump in and blurt out the punch line. Not only do they steal your thunder, they steal a little bit of joy, the pleasure of delivering the fun part of a story or joke.

"Bursting someone's bubble" is another way of describing stealing joy. You can rank this as one of the saddest of sins if you, like Dante, view a hierarchy of sin as in the Divine Comedy's nine circles of hell.

We see all sorts of posts on social media. All sorts. They reveal much about one's inner core. I wonder if people realize when they are bursting bubbles? Or have they ceased to care?

A person shares a thing that brings them joy, only to be corrected or shut down.

"Ahem, that's not how it happened. You don't have the facts straight."

Oh, right it was 1963, not 1964. Of course, it was 3:00, not 4:00. On and on ...

Must we always have the facts straight or can someone tell a story that stretches imagination? It's not as though we are testifying in court — "Yes, I witnessed her stealing Henry's thunder on May 1, 2017."

Can we stretch our imagination? I enjoy the story of my grandfather's family coming to America via our ancestor who was an Irish horse thief. It humored me every time my grandmother spoke of it. Please don't tell me this story is untrue. Especially, the part about being Irish. At least DNA testing has secured that piece of history.

If it's a story in which facts are inconsequential, and it is not plagiarism, could we let it roll? Let the bubble of joy float a little higher?

Please forgive me if I ever steal your thunder. And, God forbid that I steal your joy. At least my great grand ancestor merely stole Irish horses.

~ LowTide explorer, Carolyn Fjeran

[LowTide is an eclectic collection of discoveries and reflective writings.]