Previously I was forced to withdraw temporarily from my monologue concerning the subject of reservations.  At that time I had addressed the matter of dinner reservations in particular; and that only in a cursory and somewhat apocryphal manner. I am however more engaged philosophically and psychologically concerning the matter of personal reservations, that collection of skepticisms and reluctances which so forcibly govern one’s otherwise rampant behaviour whether intentionally or unwittingly.

In this highly private and individual arena one cannot however escape the unavoidable influence of others, whether family, educators, friends or general cultural adherence. The ascendancy is often purely synthetic though as often mandatory. The relevance of reservation is that it can predict what transpires in one’s life; that is, depending upon one’s reservations, a particular association, event or affair may or may not happen. I consider it a pity to miss out on an otherwise profitable engagement merely because of some abstract limitation.

And that’s the thing about reservations; namely, they are predominantly fictions.  As a lawyer I am reluctant to dismiss reservations solely on the basis of fiction.  For example, one of the greatest devices of the Western world’s legal system is a corporation.  It is purely a fabrication created to address the need to legitimize collective participation with digestible retail advantage. Thus the corporation is denominated for this singular purpose as a “person” entitled to the benefits of ownership and similar legal privileges but with the distinctly modified limitation upon liability (that is, limited to the amount of one’s share contribution).

In this respect reservations are protective communal endeavours. That is, it this technique of fiction by which a  model of reservation or social governance frequently begins. As a child one is trained to behave in a particular manner, to withdraw from this or that, to maintain a certain sanctuary of reserve which by unknown account is considered proper, free from hesitancy or objection.

Certainly a measure of reservation is valuable to avoid an undesirable involvement or one which may be predicted to raise unintended remark or dispute. But reservation is solely conceptual (symbolic) and metaphysical (notional). Frequently however competing with these beneficent absorptions is the more empirical matter of fidelity or truth, those candid and more visceral reflections which somehow survive in spite of years of training or accommodation. I suspect it is these sudden realizations which often interfere with one’s knee-jerk reservations, contributing to what unfolds as humming and hawing or occasionally startling interjections.

As common a fault of aging is the curmudgeonly evolution of one’s conduct, I find by contrast one enjoys a less reserved bearing and attitude. Indeed I consider it a mark of engineering and intelligence that elderly people so regularly transcend traditional social boundaries distinguished as reservations.

Overcoming one’s reservations is by definition setting oneself free from moorings. This historically appears to have been the thrust of the hippie movement in the late 1960s. But the alteration is proving now to be less than cosmetic. There are wide varieties of social reservations which are now dissolving in the name of far more authentic approbation and purpose. Entire paradigms and are being affected by pandemic change. This is normally characterized as a shift in demographics. On the less global level the affect is a noticeable change in the fabric of society. A common and recognizable transformation is the exhaustion of religious dominion especially among the more educated civilizations.  Lest this be adduced as anything more than a spiritual change I hasten to add that the primary objection to religion is naturally not its charitableness rather its devastating worldliness and model of self-preservation at the expense of others.  It is the one fiction I shall never sanction. It is “Trumpian” vacuous political entertainment and Californian drag show staging at their best.