It Was A Little More Than Lagniappe, Brian!!

"Lagniappe" is a word that originated in South Louisiana and has spread to Southeast Texas.
It originated as a gift someone was given with a purchase and today has been expanded to mean
 "a little something extra".  


My old childhood friend, George, once gave me a T-shirt that said, "The Older I Get, The Better I Was!"  He was suggesting that I embellished some of the exploits of my younger days.  In fairness to George, maybe my high school batting average was .299 instead of .325.  In fairness to me, I was always better than him in anything we did.  But, I digress. 


Let's be honest.  Who among us has not embellished some accomplishment.  Who has added 2 ounces to the 4 pound 14 ounce bass they caught?  Who has thrown a 90mph fastball before radar guns were used?  Who saved $10,000 on the new car they just bought?  Who had a date with the homecoming queen and lied about the outcome several years later? 


Embellishing the truth is a common ritual among most men.  No harm is intended.  It's more of a competitive thing among friends and acquaintances.  Usually the people hearing the story know that some degree of exaggeration is taking place, but rarely challenge the story, knowing they will be extended the same courtesy when they gussy up their own phenomenal accomplishment.


My hunch is that Brian Williams was just enhancing what was really a extraordinary experience in Afghanistan when he added the RPG and AK47 fire hitting his chopper. 


Brian's comments probably started in some informal venue.   It may have started with conversations to super impress some of his buddies.  But, Brian made two major mistakes.


1. He is a trusted newsman and his job is to report events to the public as accurately as possible. He repeated the story to the nation.


2. He dishonored the men and women of the US military by insinuating that he was in more of harms way than he actually was when they are faced with dangerous situations everyday.


Lagniappe is a good thing.  Brian, your story had no lagniappe.