In Woody Allen’s film, Zelig is a character that can effortlessly ape the people around him. In a group of doctors, he becomes a doctor, chatting with his colleagues in a way that they never realize he’s not a doctor. If among chefs, he is instantly a chef. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Frank Abagnale character in Catch Me If You Can has similar skills; he is able to convincingly pass himself off as a lawyer, a pilot, and a Secret Service agent to others in those professions.
Who could you fool, and as what? I’m not picturing any kind of a rigorous examination, but in the context of, say, a social event like a party, could you claim to be a dentist, or a priest, or a carpenter well enough to fool any other dentists, priests, or carpenters that happened to be attending?
I dunno. I read a lot, and pay attention to a lot of things. I think I could fool a lot of people that I was something else, but an actual member of the profession – that’s difficult. There’s just so much stuff that isn’t written down, but everybody in the field knows.
Maybe a cop. Many years ago I worked at the Ontario Police College, and picked up a lot of the stuff they talked about. Combine that with reading a lot of cop books and watching shows like The First 48, and I might be able to pull it off. Course that’s a really bad one to try if I got it wrong.
Apparently a Congressman. I met some folks one night out back when I was single and they nicknamed me the “Congressman”, thinking I had that clean-cut look and was reasonably affable. They went so far as to introduce me to everyone in the bar as their Congressman. We played it up for grins, I had short conversations with some of the patrons about issues facing the state (Alaska) and by the end of the night I asked everyone to remember to vote and promised if sent back to really shake things up “on the Hill.” Shook a lot of hands really, smiled a lot and would have held some babies had it not been… you know… a bar. The thought of actually being a Congressman, being able to represent and help folks was nice and I think I carried it off pretty well. However, having to listen to some of the more unpleasant concerns, be they uninformed or selfish or bigoted, led me to conclude my real life vocation was a much better fit.
Twern’t a bad evening altogether I suppose as it brought some compelling issues to the table and we all benefited from some spirited debate.
A dentist, priest or carpenter? Heh, probably not.
I couldn’t be an Abagnale.
I know I couldn’t be a Zelig (which requires you to start to physically resemble a nearby person).
I could probably learn to be a Fletch, who confidences and jive-talks his way into (and out of) all kinds of situations. I’ve always admired that character.
I attended a wedding and some fool was trying to convince some women that he was a fighter pilot. This was about the time “Top Gun” came out, and I thought it was pretty sad.
No. I couldn’t be a liar, or a “Zelig” or whatever you want to call it.
Yes, either Secret Service or FBI (whatever Tom Hanks’ character wasn’t). The very first time Hanks caught up with him, he thought fast and bluffed his way out by claiming that his guys had just caught Abagnale and he was packing up evidence. By the time Hanks realized he’d been had, Abagnale had vanished.
There are a reasonable number of professions and circumstances that I could mimic reasonably well in conversation, if the need arose. I know this from attending professional conferences that aren’t in my profession and being able to hold fairly complex conversations using what I already know and bits of data I learn by paying attention at the conference. However, I do identify myself as Not One Of You if I’m asked or if the misapprehension could lead to a problem.
I’m a retail Zelig. People always, always come up to me in stores to ask, “Do you work here?” or, better yet, assume I work there and start asking me questions: “Excuse me sir, where can I find the tulip bulbs?”
:smack:
It must be something to do with my demeanor - maybe I just look like I know what I’m doing - because it happens when I’m wearing jeans at Nordstrom (while the employees all have slacks and ties one) or even when I’m at the Home Depot and all the employees are wearing BRIGHT ORANGE APRONS.
My accent morphs to match whoever I’m speaking with… but only if speaking in French. If I’m having a conversation with a Parisian, I’ll have picked up their diction and mannerisms within 5-10 minutes of striking up a chat. Same goes for Quebeckers and Acadians. So I guess I could reasonably pass for a citizen of any number of French-speaking countries if speaking with one of my ersatz countrymen/women.
Strangely enough, this doesn’t happen to me when speaking in English. Go figure.
I also seem to suffer from the same syndrome as OneCentStamp. I blame this on a three-year “career” in retail, so I’m guessing the Gap Greeter shine hasn’t worn off me yet.
Eh, Yikes, I didn’t realize it might be a Thang, but, I guess I fit the bill, too. Same here, not only in the horticulture sorts of places where I figure I look the part, but even in all kinds of other stores— people come up and ask ??s like I work there. Perhaps retail folks just give a better vibe of “Ok, ask me?” I dunno, it’s weird.
:smack: