Wrong about this, wrong about that (possibly)

I'm wrong about a few things.

A few days ago I took a break from books and wrote about dress codes in software companies. Within a spooky 48 hours of my ranty post the company I was thinking about but didn't specifically mention changed their policy: employees may now wear more or less what they want.

Yesterday I wrote that Humbert doesn't love Lolita. This morning I read the reunion scene, and Humbert does in fact appear to love Lolita. He's unreliable; he's defending his case; he's good with words: but it's convincing. It turns a story of unseemly thigh-rubbing lust into an unseemly thigh-rubbing love story, all at once, and just like that. And who's to say that unacceptable lust may not be augmented by genuine romantic love? The two are not inherently incompatible. So it's possible that he does love Lolita, and how are we ever to know otherwise? No one will ever prove that someone is claiming love to save their own skin; the accusation hangs in the air and may not be blown away. Vehement opposition to such an accusation may be an act or genuine. Tranquil acceptance may conceal certainty of love or be poor acting. At the point where I left off, when my bus pulled into the station, it depends how we want to read the story. I think we're supposed to believe he loves Lolita, and that despite his earlier protestations, this is the first time we realised it might be a genuine possibility.

Being wrong about the dress code shows me that corporate culture can change. Being (possibly) wrong about Humbert's love highlights a powerful, novel-length dramatic plot-twist. Lust to love (possibly). Both these realisations are pleasing, they are serendipitious. May I discover many more of my mistakes.