Comments From Chance Encounters

As I sit at my computer on a warm Arizona night, catching up on email and participating in instant messenger conversations with various members of the online erotic hypnosis community, I'm reminded of some thoughts that I had a while back and of a conversation where I explored these thoughts. I will post that conversation here, for two reasons. First, to give other people who are in to hypnosis a perspective on a phenomenon that I'm sure they also encouter. Second, to soften up a little my "im'ing me for the first time" FAQ.

This conversation took place on Brian's Hypnosis Technique Exchange Y!group/mailing list. My friend David wrote:

Now ...We've all shared some of the same experiences and lame comments from others "ooo.. don't look into my eyes" "I can't be hypnotized, ya know" ... there are a million of them, and we hear them at most social events.

I then responded with

Ironically enough, I think the place that I run in to the odd/lame comments the most is when I'm in a small used book store, raiding their hypnosis section. I think the most bizarre comment that I got was from the guy behind the counter attempting to make a witty comment regarding "being careful with that book," for some vague reason that I never quite deciphered, involving Rip Van Winkle.

Now there's a lot of ways that one can respond to a comment like this. One could think something along the lines of "fucking moron," pay for one's book and leave. One could take this as an invitation to pursue a conversation, and engage in social interaction. One could do any number of things. Usually I'll just sort of blink a few times, keep a neutral expression on my face, and politely wait and see if the person on the other side of the counter is going to drop the subject or pursue the subject.

Why would I choose the last option. Well, to be perfectly honest, most of the time it's an old guy on the other side of that counter... now if it were a hot college co-ed, I'd probably go for option number 2, then dinner, then a movie, her treat of course! :-)

The thing is, for the average person out in the world, odds are that they don't really have a whole lot of exposure to hypnosis. I make it a point to consciously remind myself, because all my friends and just about anyone else that I have contact with in my life, tend to know me as that hypnotist guy. A lot of my friends have learned hypnosis, just by hanging around me for a few years. :-) When you're constantly surrounded by people that view hypnosis as not only a normal phenomenon, but a normal mechanism of interpersonal communication, I can imagine that this might shift one's normative ideas a bit.

I think for the most part, these types of awkward comments are just a normal person's attempt to express interest in a subject that they probably weren't expecting to encounter and most likely have no real exposure to outside of mass media and myth. One's ability to respond is probably one of the most important skills a hypnotist can have.