Opus 2024-442: Hear, Hear!

I had what I would describe as a classic case of gaslighting recently.

If my memory is accurate the term gaslighting comes from a book, movie or play in which the husband kept turning down the gas lamps in the house in small increments and when his wife wondered if it was getting darker would deny it and claim all was well.  I don’t know how that was resolved but it developed the concept of “gaslighting.”  That is my story and I am sticking to it.

I had given a lady a ride to the doctor’s office.  When we settled into the waiting room she took a chair with nothing next to her.  I sat across and down a couple of seats.  Someone she knew was also in the waiting room and they engaged in a robust conversation until the other lady was called into the back rooms.  The conversation was then directed toward me.  I noticed that I had clearly heard and understood the conversation between them but when I was being addressed I had a hard time.  It occurred to me that when she was talking to me she lowered her voice.  When I asked her to repeat something she did not speak more clearly but lowered it again.  She has a history of telling me I need to have my hearing checked.

I will concede that my hearing is not 100%.  I also know that hearing aids do not work very well in noisy environments and so I am not interested in them at this point.  The point is not my hearing but the gaslighting going on to make me think my hearing is worse than it is.

Gaslighting is an effective way of manipulating people.  Be aware.  Strive to not be manipulated.  If you are the gaslighter, pray for mercy and forgiveness.

homo unius libri