We were, for some reason I can't recall, discussing holiday traditions. And one of my employees with whom I've had several discussions about the church asked whether Mormons have any specific traditions in the way of holiday foods.
I casually replied, "Nah, Christmas is pretty basic for us. We don't eat anything unusual. Just the lamb entrails and stuff. Pretty normal."
I was joking, of course. But then I saw the look on his face and I remembered telling him about the dead-dunking and the magic underwear--and I suddenly realized that he had no reason to believe I was joking. I'd told him much weirder stuff that was completely factual, so a traditional Christmas meal of lamb intestines didn't seem comparatively outlandish. I quickly had to assure him that I was making that part up and reiterate that my childhood Christmases were pretty all-American--turkey, ham, presents, trees, stockings...pretty normal.
It's crazy to realize that, because of my deadpan delivery and the information that I'd provided him with, it was totally reasonable to believe the completely bizarre crap I'd just come up with. A religion that can result in that kind of misunderstanding is a pretty weird religion.
Funny, I had a similar experience when I was an active Mormon teenager. I was staying with a non-Mormon family for the summer; it was Sunday and we were playing a board game. I said something like 'Shoot I need to go to the bathroom'. Someone told me to go ahead, they would wait. My response was 'I wish I could, but Mormons can't go to the bathroom on Sunday before 3pm'. Then I realized that they totally believed me. I toyed with the idea of letting them believe me but gave in to my 'higher self' and fessed up.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty funny!
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