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Why This Word in a Headline Always Creeps Me Out
The most gaslighting of power words
If you can spot it in the split second beforehand, then you have enough time to keep the hell out of the way.
Have you ever dealt with erratic characters, hot and cold moods; or, dodged plates thrown against the wall or avoided death stares on the daily? You can feel when the vibes are thick. You could cut the air with a knife.
If you’ve grown up in a dysfunctional household, then you will recognize it. You know it by a flicker of the eye or the sudden squeezed tone of voice. You can tell by the way the lights are off when you come home from school.
It’s on its way. You steel yourself: It’s going to be wrong. You know it. You know it. You develop a warning system. You are two steps ahead. You learn not to be surprised by irrational outbursts. And you become pretty good at it, too. You look at meteorologists on television and think, yeah, predicting the weather? That looks easy. Maybe I can do this for a job when I grow up? You bury it in your mind. It’s safer to keep your dreams to yourself.
After a while, you are reading subtle signs, and it feels like a superpower. Rooms have weather. You can read the pressure systems in a room. You watch as friends will walk straight into a hurricane without even a…
