Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Validation Memories

I rarely blog when I am visiting my parents.  I just don't spend much time on the computer or thinking deep thoughts, and not much happens to me.

So, in order to avoid going too long without a post, here's a random memory brought to mind by this blog post

I was on lunch break at the company I worked for before going back to school my advanced degrees.  Two people were reading horoscopes.  They were not the prediction-type horoscopes; they were the kind that describe who you are.  It may or may not be relevant that they were both middle-aged women, and both worked in our marketing department. (Actually, they were the marketing department.  It was not a large company.)

They asked me what my sign was.  I told them I didn't know.  They asked me what my birthday was.  I told them a date.

They then read the horoscope out loud, and said, "Oh yes, that is you."

I started to laugh.  They asked what was funny, and I told them that I had lied about my birthday.  I had deliberately chosen a date several months away from my actual birthday.  The horoscope associated with my random date had been so vague that they were able to fit me into it.

I don't know if this did them any good.  Probably not.  But it does make a good story.

As an aside, they both were in the habit of buying lottery tickets.  You would think that people who make it their job to manipulate consumers would have some resistance to being manipulated, but I guess not.

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