Those Carefree Days of Childhood

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Long ago, two youngsters, playing with their action figures:

Charlie - "So then Gulliver uses his Hidden Power to put out the fire in the palace ..."

Mortimer - "No, stoopid, I want Gulliver to rescue the Princess and put her on the top of the lighthouse. Then the Giant Yahoo comes and climbs up .."

Charlie - "Does not!"

Mortimer - "Does so! You let go the princess, or I'll just call my mom and take all the Lilliputians back home with me."

Much later, two professors of historical linguistics [I swear I heard pretty much this]:

Prof. Charles - "So then because of the dessication of the plains the Pagoutsi move into the forest and gradually ...

Dr. Mortimer - "What my esteemed colleague is trying to say in his stoopid way, is that the pre-Pagoutsi populations, fleeing the tecnologically superior Mazaci, skirt the forest, which is too dense for rapid penetration, and then go north through the Palapas pass, reaching by about 3000 years ago ..."

Prof. Charles - "They most certainly do not!"

Dr. Mortimer - "Do so, do so, do so, and I heard how you got your degree, PROFESSOR!"

It is amazing how long the kiddies keep fighting over their solipsistic scenarios while outside the cave truth is marching on.

And, no, I do not except myself - I have been Charlie or Mortimer in both those interactions. But I try to watch the doughnut instead of speculating what a perfect hole would be like.

Yesterday online, I finally found and re-connected with a friend from the '70s, but this time our eventual phone conversation at least lasted for about an hour before some of that stuff got started once again.

We grow older, not always wiser.

Sometimes I am amazed by the accuracy and wisdom of simple statements made by children. Adults often like to complicate matters unnecessarily. I learn from my children just as they learn from me.