WTMI

WTMI = Way Too Much Information

For 12 years I lived with someone who often said to me, “I would never say that!”  So, of all the people in the world to write about this subject....  HA!  Guilty as charged! 

That’s probably why I bought this 5½ x 3 inch brass plaque at an open-air flea market in Brussels years ago, hung it in our Atlanta bathroom, and then chose to bring it in my move to the Netherlands, after selling almost everything else I owned.  This was not leaving my sight!

I love stuff like this.  If you can’t take a joke, right?!  Or do only women think the above quote is funny?  Do men squirm a bit after reading it?

The other day I saw a poster on Facebook (FB) that said, “Sharks have been spotted in this pool.  They come out when they smell pee.”  Do you think kids get the joke or only adults?  Does it make kids appreciate and “obey” the warning more when given in a humorous way?  (Are the chief culprits even old enough to read it?)

Speaking of FB, in the beginning I just didn’t get it.  Actually, the part I still don’t get is the WTMI part…but not necessarily in a who-in-the-world-could-possibly-care sort of way.  Rather, in a this-is-way-too-personal sort of way.  When two people are expressing their love to each other in very intimate ways, out there for all their Friends to see, somehow even I cringe.  It crosses a different WTMI line for me. 

So, where is the sense and sensibility when it comes to WTMI?  Privacy and stolen-identity issues aside, is there an unwritten etiquette somewhere about what we should or should not share or say publicly?  Are there proprieties….

Or is this the fodder for the comedians amongst us!  No holds barred?

There’s almost always more than one way to say something, of course.  You can be a strict disciplinarian with ruler/belt in hand, barking out orders for unquestioning obedience.  Or you can be instead a leader who manages allegiance in such humorous ways no one can refuse. 

Which reminds me of son Mark when he was little and had a hard time keeping his bedroom straightened up.  I’d awaken him several mornings in a row singing “Good morning to you, you live in a zoo; but then so do monkeys, good morning to you.”  He’d wake up laughing and a few days later…ha!  He’d clean up his room. 

Tell me just about anything with even a weird sense of humor and I’ll probably laugh on the spot.  Maybe I have an extra funny bone, I don’t know.  Say something in enough of a different way that doesn’t go too far over the line and you’ll have me hook, line and sinker.

In that regard, you can say I’m a sucker for WTMI.  Well, as long as it’s funny and not at anyone’s expense, if you know what I mean.

And while I’m at it, I promise never to put anything into your toilet that doesn’t belong there.  But for those of us old enough, aren’t you glad those days are over?!!!