Marginal liberties with the truth taken below are all unintentional

At some Halloween festivities last night, a friend and I became embroiled in a small argument with a young lady cougar-in-training (expat) who was less than respectful of the work that we do (write, study history). When I was trying to explain what we do for a "living," I said something about our work as 'doing history' and she immediately took umbrage, asserting loudly that writing about history is not "doing history" and that 'real' people "went out and made history" instead of writing about it.

I responded (somewhat lamely) that writing is doing something. She maintained her earlier claim, pointing out sagely that Napoleon did not sit around all day writing but instead spent his time visiting death and destruction on all the peoples of Europe for his own personal aggrandizement - obviously a much superior occupation.

At this point, I tried to explain that Napoleon managed his image for posterity at the same time that my companion laid on her the aphorism, "Any idiot can make history, but it takes a true genius to write it." She stuck to her guns, simultaneously conversing with us and ignoring our contributions to that conversation. I brought up Caesar - noting that he both commanded and wrote an excellent history of Roman wars in Gaul.

She was unfazed. Or perhaps she was pre-fazed by the drinking she had already done and remained thus immune from subsequent fazings, double jeopardy having attached.

It was at this point that the conversation effectively ended as I walked away, or perhaps the conversation changed course, diverted by the intervention of a fourth party.

I could try to psychologize her aggressive denunciation of my chosen career - certain facts pertinent to the parties in this discussion might make her posture (hostility toward my friend and I) more understandable. That would be satisfying, but would miss the point. She may have expressed her feelings in an ill-mannered way, but I suspect (perhaps wrongly) that her attitude toward history (poorly and drunkenly articulated though it may have been) is widespread among contemporary Americans, but rarely expressed because of politeness or disinterest.

In response, I am thinking about composing a justification, or if you prefer a self-justification, of the study of history. If you are interested in seeing such an item in this space, raise your hand. If not, sit back and rest assured that this may be just another pipe dream.