Mama Cass's Serious run in with a Ham Sandwich

I don't care if the Ham Sandwich was just NEAR her ... my version of the story is much better!

Everyone does it. Most comedians, since Bill Cosby perfected it, use it. Some authors have to master it. My mother is a freakin genius when it comes ot it. Come to think of it, its more of a family trait, seeing as how none of us would be able to communicate without it. And what is this "it" I'm discussing?

Exaggeration.

I tend to do this alot, and I've noticed it recently. It's nothing major or anything like that; just a common quality I think most of us have. And its not necessarily a bad thing.Think about this: If I told you a story about how a patient was rude to me, it wouldn't be very interesting. But if I told you there was screaming involved, I threatened to call security, and the patient walked out in a major huff, that's a much better story. (This really did happen once, but go with it!)We have a family story from when I was a kid that my mom loves to tell. When me and my older sister were kids, we as a family went to the beach in Galveston. It was one of those really rare years when the sting rays come into the gulf. Now, picture us out in the water and my mom sees those beady red eyes. Its all true up to the point that I saw the world literally sideways as my dad picked me up by the side and ran. Its also true that my mom grabbed my sister and ran towards the beach. The part that gets distorted is how close those evil water creatures were to us. And the story gets better and better each time its told as the sting rays gradually get closer and closer to us over the years. And this story is from when I was about 5, so the sting rays by now were literally upon us!Personally, I tend to exaggerate things in my head to astronomically bigger things than they really are. I can stress myself out without really trying. If one thing happens, I can exaggerate it into a million possibilities of things that could result. Or I can focus on that one thing and all the little things that don't normally matter can compound and way-lay me. I do exaggerate while telling stories, but the exaggerations in my head are far worse than the stories I tell everyone. But,the exaggerations I make out loud are pretty good, if I do say so myself ...Just think about it all: How many times do people say "It was the funniest thing that has ever happened" or "Seriously, it was the biggest fish in the entire lake" or "No really, it was the worst day of my life"? How many times have you stretched a story just a little to make it so much better? How many times has someone told you about their day at work and there seemed to be a spike in the number of things they did or people they saw? We all exaggerate, and its not such a bad thing.We do have to keep each other entertained.And so goes the life ...