Dexter Daily Statesman

Mind Reading 101

Posted Friday, September 7, 2007, at 1:06 AM
<< Previous | Read comments | Respond | Email link | Next >>

Somehow, I missed that course … you know the one. The one that clues you in to what people are thinking, really thinking, so you don't say something you'll regret.

Or something you don't regret, but lordy me the consequences are lulus.

My late mother always seemed to think I knew whatever it was she might have wanted, and boy did she get mad when I didn't perform to her expectations. I should have known what she wanted; it was obvious.

Not to me.

Have any of you had experiences like that? Have people ever assumed you knew what they wanted, or made assumptions about what you were/are thinking?

Just wondering …

Comments
Showing comments in chronological order
[Show most recent comments first]

Any woman who has ever been married has had experiences like that!

-- Posted by gardengirl on Mon, Sep 10, 2007, at 3:26 PM

Recently read article that a research experiment found 20% of the time a person can correctly guess what a stranger is thinking. The correct guessing rate goes up to as much as 35% for long-time friends and married couples.

Seems like it can really cause headaches for someone to think you can guess what they are thinking 20-35% of the time -- because they will assume that you ALWAYS know what they are thinking! Then if you don't guess right -- watch out! Just as you found out with your mom, ElFreda. Maybe its would be better to act dumb and always ask??

-- Posted by FJGuy on Tue, Sep 11, 2007, at 8:47 PM

Unfortunately,I'm guilty of expecting others to be mindreaders before I realize I'm either jumping to conclusions or going by the assumption folks know what I'm thinking. And it don't work! Sorry for the grammatical error there.

-- Posted by swift on Fri, Sep 14, 2007, at 12:10 PM