Information Please Completed
This story touched me. It reminded me of when I was young. We to depended on "Information" for all sorts of things. My family was quite large and my parents didn't always have the time to answer our questions. We as children believed that "Information was never wrong and knew everything. I didn't feel particularly vulnerable but having someone who know everything was often a comfort and a help.
This belief was called into question one day when I was about 7 or 8. My sister Theresa, who was probably fourteen or so, and I got into an argument as to how many state there were in the United States. I was a cocky child and had just learned about all of the states in school and was showing off my new knowledge. She tried to tell me I was wrong. At the end of the argument we decided that the only way to know who was right was to call information. As children we had asked "her" all sorts of question and I know she would confirm that I was right. I called and spoke to "Information" she convirmed that there were 50 states in the union and that I had been correct all along. I was ecstatic. My sister had always picked on my ( I must admit I was somewhat of a wimp). This would prove that I wasn't always wrong and that I wasn't stupid.
Unbelievablly Theresa said that "Information was wrong" !!WRONG!! "Information" couldn't be wrong. This shook me up as much as if she had said that there was no G-d.
This shook me up so much that I don't even remember how the question was resolved. It was at this point that I began to see that when ever she and my other older siblings picked on me that it wasn't necessarily my failed and that I wasn't always in the wrong. That sometimes she just enjoyed bulling me.
Though I had been right and "Information" had confirmed it I never again depended on "Information" for answers. But to this day when ever I hear a child with a question I say to my self " Call Information, she knows everything."
