An Idea

Something clever came to me while eating Cobb salad among friends yesterday evening. I think that this is perhaps the ideal situation in which to nurture and realize ideas. A more complete picture of the comings and goings of our founding fathers would likely reveal many evening meals at Philadelphia diners. It may well be the case that forensic tests would reveal trace amounts of bleu cheese dressing on the original documents which contributed to our Declaration of Independence, Constitution and early amendments.

In any case, as I said, I was gifted a similarly epiphanous moment yesterday. To preface this moment, I must say that the great power and impact of words cannot be denied. To say something is to set incredible forces of the universe, of the mind and of the heart into motion. History is peppered with the unthinkably severe consequences of words casually spoken offhand. I'm reminded of an incident of the ancient battlefield in which a misunderstanding based on the written word led to unintended bloodshed on a large scale.

Just as words can be destructive, they can have the opposite effect, and in a subtle manner. I have hit upon an incredible way of retroactively qualifying one's words which rivals "I'm just saying" and "No offense", only I expect that it will be even more powerful and effective. In a way, I'm only building upon a principle established by the humble legal pad. I have long known that whatever one records on the pages of a legal pad becomes entirely permissible under the criminal and civil codes of whatever jurisdiction which the pad itself is in. What I share with you now only extends that to the realm of social acceptability within the confines of conversation.

Simply put, whenever you want to impress upon someone the truth of what you're saying, you merely need to follow it up with the deceptively simple phrase "true story". Now, don't get caught up in the idea that this can only be employed when one has just spoken truly or told a story. Use of the phrase is not contingent on either of those conditions. To say "true story" is to make what you've said both true and a story.

I don't ask for any more than my due in exchange for presenting this concept unto the world. Seeing its effect on the universe (and receiving a very reasonable monetary compensation correlating to the extent of its use) will be reward enough.