Robert Goolrick in Heading Out to Wonderful pronounced “All memory is fiction.” Boy do I relate to that daring truth, especially when talking with my twin brother, Vince, who is quite the raconteur.
The best gift I ever gave Vince was a t-shirt that reads “Cool Story Bro, Tell It Again” because he can tell a story for the fifth time and each telling is like hearing the story for the first time. Recently Vince was winding up to tell a story I’d heard before, and when I reminded him of this fact, responded, “If you liked it last time you’ll like it even better this time.”
This favorite quote has myriad dimensions beyond the ability to tell a good story. It reminds me that we each experience the same encounter differently. We each walk away with different memories, some of which certifiably happened, some of which may have happened and some of which are pure fiction.
In your legal nurse consulting job, interviewing different witnesses in an automobile accident or medical malpractice case will often yield widely varying versions of the same incident. You may have an impression of a consultation or interview with an attorney-client that the attorney herself would not recognize. It doesn’t matter if your version is right and the attorney’s version is wrong. What matters is the story the attorney-client walks away with and how she sees you in that story.
The more we understand that we each create our own worlds and the experiences in them, the easier it is to understand that everyone else does too. That makes clear communications and immediate follow-up more important than ever as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.
In the meantime, I still think Vince’s t-shirt says it all.
Success Is Yours!
P.S. Comment here and share how you ensure the attorney’s memory matches yours.