Tweet
That's exactly it, Pixelated. Manipulators watch other people to see how to get into someone's life. Sometimes they say, "Oh, so that's it. Just offer to do something for them. It doesn't matter if I do it or not. I can still lay a guilt trip on them later, and they'll feel so bad, they'll want to do something for me."
Sometimes, as you said, this offer is genuinely made from the goodness of a person's own heart, which makes it all the more difficult to separate these generous offers from the offers of the manipulators.
I had an odd feeling about this woman's attitude when she found out I was having surgery, as I mentioned before. I didn't understand why - especially when she spent so much time being negative - she suddenly seemed to want to help me. I think now that she wanted a captive audience for her tales of woe. (According to her, everyone from a woman on public transportation all the way up to the government has abused her.)
It's so hard to get rid of these people once they've entrenched themselves in your life. An acquaintance suggested that it could be cognitive decline - she's about 70, or so I guess - and while I agree that this could be the cause, I think it's more likely that she's put so much time and effort into being everyone's victim that she no longer has any idea how to be anything else. And she doesn't want to, because she wouldn't get enough attention that way.
Sometimes, as you said, this offer is genuinely made from the goodness of a person's own heart, which makes it all the more difficult to separate these generous offers from the offers of the manipulators.
I had an odd feeling about this woman's attitude when she found out I was having surgery, as I mentioned before. I didn't understand why - especially when she spent so much time being negative - she suddenly seemed to want to help me. I think now that she wanted a captive audience for her tales of woe. (According to her, everyone from a woman on public transportation all the way up to the government has abused her.)
It's so hard to get rid of these people once they've entrenched themselves in your life. An acquaintance suggested that it could be cognitive decline - she's about 70, or so I guess - and while I agree that this could be the cause, I think it's more likely that she's put so much time and effort into being everyone's victim that she no longer has any idea how to be anything else. And she doesn't want to, because she wouldn't get enough attention that way.
Comment