Genealogy Related Injuries

When I lived in Sweden, people would often joke about how a particular quirk in their thinking was a “work related injury.” It can happen to anyone. Some things become so deeply ingrained that they affect the way with think and it comes out in some odd ways.

So how does genealogy affect they way we think? Have you ever-

  1. said something like “Well, 1852 wasn’t that long ago” when a bit of history comes up during casual conversation?
  2. written the wrong century on a check?
  3. found yourself apologizing for forgetting someone’s name by telling them that, “Sorry, I’m a genealogist, I remember the names of dead people really well. It’s a good sign for you that I’ve forgotten yours.”
  4. used the word “died” when another person would have said “passed away”? (On a not so funny note, I’ve noticed this lately when people that I haven’t seen in a while ask how my father is doing. If I say that he died, there is a subtle hitch in peoples’ reactions that I don’t get when I say “He passed away.”)
  5. casually mentioned exploring cemeteries when everyone else in the conversation spent their weekend at the beach or the ballpark? Do you then wonder why they looked at you a bit funny?
  6. just assumed that everyone knows what NARA, FHL, LAC and GRO mean?
  7. written something using language that reads like it came straight out of a ca. 1880 county history?
  8. looked at a year ending in 0 and had your first thought be that it was a census year, totally independent of the context? (Canadian and U.K. readers, please substitute “1” for “0”. Come to think of it, bonus points to American readers that see dates ending in a “1” and think Canadian or U.K. census year.)
  9. anticipated the arrival in the mail of things that most people aren’t so keen on? Things like death notices and divorce proceedings?
  10. had the total at the grocery checkout, say $106.29, remind you of, say Cumberland County, Maine, Deed Indexes?

Any of that have a familiar feel to it?

 

2 thoughts on “Genealogy Related Injuries”

    1. Look on the bright side, you did eliminate 2,7 and 10. My one and only experience of #10 inspired this post…

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