Ask Me if I Care

"Ask me if I care," was always the snarky remark my sister would say to me after I would tell her a story. Trying to figure out why she wouldn't care about my cookie falling on the floor at lunch (therefore not having any dessert) was difficult. Eventually, I learned which details of my life are worth sharing and which aren't; I wouldn't tell my boss the last time I washed my hair simply because my hair has nothing to do with my job.

In Narrative Interest as Cultural Negotiation, Herman and Vervaeck explain the idea of details worth sharing with others and those better left to ourselves. The notion of the tellability of a narrative, based on how interesting it is (to the narrator and the receiver) is presented; explaining that the interest in a subject is if it is out of ordinary or unexpected to the receiver.[1]An example of this was a video on the internet of a two year old smoking a cigarette which became huge interest to the masses, especially of America, who are constantly reminded of how terrible cigarettes are daily in commercials and advertisements. It caused the person watching the video to be amazed that someone would actually endanger the child with cigarettes. The viewer was further wowed by learning that the infant smokes two packs of cigarettes daily.[2]

In The Disnarrated, Prince reiterates that a narrative is tellable because of its value of interest, be it a taboo or scandal. Prince goes further to bring up the idea of the unnarratable. The unnarrative may be what the author chooses to omit, due to lack of tellability (a “you had to be there moment”). The unnarrative may also be in the form of details that are not included in the actual event, which are included in the narrative. Prince explains that they may be a comparison to the event which help reinforce why the narrative is tellable.[3] This video of the baby (mentioned earlier) is truly narratable because of the unnarrative of how the American views tobacco and cigarettes. The unnarrative of assuming when one hears a baby smoking a cigarette, they do not expect the baby to smoke 40 cigarettes daily. These unnarratives are what make the narrative tellable and continue to make it tellable a year after the video was published.If you tell someone that there is a video of an infant chain smoking cigarettes, under most circumstances, it is unlikely that they will respond with a rude, "Ask me if I care."




[1] Herman, L., Vervaeck, B. Narrative. Narrative Interest as Cultural Negotiation. Vol. 17, No. 1. (2009):113-116. Print.

[2] "Indonesian baby on 40 cigarettes a day." YouTube. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. .

[3] Prince, Gerald. "The Disnarrated." Style. 22.1 (1988): 1-8. Print.