I was at my mum's house the other day scrounging for a free cup of tea when I heard this interesting sentence spring from my mother's lips as she sat working in her bedroom.
"What should I do now? I am uncertain. Perhaps we should confer to discuss this? Yes, this would be a wise thing indeed."
I peeked around her bedroom door to see if she was on the phone. No; she was sitting in front of her computer scribbling hastily on a piece of paper.
I withdrew to ponder what this might mean. It sounded like my mother was having a conversation... but with whom? Herself?
And then it hit me - my mother has long drawn-out conversations with herself the same way I do. And that means that her phrase should have run more like this:
"What should I do now?" asked my mother in frustrated appeal.
"I don't know," replied my mother, rather unhelpfully in her opinion.
"Perhaps we should confer to discuss it?" my mother asked through gritted teeth, barely concealing her impatience.
"Yes, this would be a wise thing indeed," agreed my mother.
And what I want to know now is: Is having in-depth discussions with yourself a universal thing? Or is it limited to a few select people who pass this trait on to their descendants?
