No, this episode won’t be teaching you how to do prestidigitation or cold reading. Well, at least, not exactly. I mean, yes, you can look at someone’s eyes, where they’re looking, or how they touch their face as tells for potential fabrication if not outright lying, but this isn’t about that. This is about the poor assumption whereby one person says nothing and expect you to know what they’re thinking, or maybe says one thing because they’re afraid to say the real truth.

The thing is, if something’s bothering you, the best way to correct that situation is not to bottle it up and hope the problem will fix itself. If you consider someone a friend, or, especially, a romantic partner, why wouldn’t you assume he or she could take the criticism. If that person cares about you, the sooner you try to correct behaviour you don’t approve of, the sooner it will either stop, or you just know someone who isn’t a true friend.

I see this a lot with couples. The old cliché goes, one partner says everything is alright, and the other takes that at face value. Think about how much quicker you could get a shoulder to cry on, or an ear for venting if you just spoke up and stated your real concerns? I can’t state it more clearly, if you’re worried how someone will react, maybe it’s indicative of something more fundamental. After all, we can have friends who we don’t consider close. If you don’t trust someone to have your back, maybe it’s time for a reevaluation.

I remember I had this amazing Author friend who write and published recently a really amazing book. We were both in the throws of divorce considerations and we bonded over that. But then I started acting in ways which bothered her, and I wasn’t even aware until it was too late. Had I known I was being too rude, I would have instantly changed my behavior. But, because she didn’t tell me what I was doing was bothering her, we just stopped being friends altogether. I’m sorry to lose such a great friend but I wish her well and am so proud of her success as a published author.

Now, will Cat and I someday be as successful as YouTube broadcasters… or will you have to start reading our minds because this could be our very last episode…