December 20, 2002

Recollection

I remember the first time that I realized that my memory was fallible. As a child I watched 'Flight of the Navigator' and at one point a very large man says something funny outside of a gas station where the alien spaceship is stopping for gas. I watched the movie again at some point and was suprised to find that the man was not very big at all and was wearing a plaid shirt and overalls, not a white shirt like I had remembered. What he said was different as well. I can't remember when I saw the movie the second time, or where I was, or how long after the first viewing it was. I don't remember the scene from the movie or what the man said or what any of the characters are named. In fact, the white versus plaid shirt is only an example; I don't remember the real difference that allowed me to realize that not everything I actually recall happened as I recall it. I only remember that I didn't remember very well. This realization could, in fact, have been retro-active. Somebody could have told me as a child that you don't always remember things as they are and I could have thought "Yeah, like in Flight of the Navigator''. I don't remember.

December 20, 2002 03:34 AM