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A friend played this trick on me.
Friend: How do you spell Joke?
Me: J-O-K-E (spelled by the alphabet), joke.
(We repeated this question answer sequence about 4 or 5 times, and then, when I least expected it:)
Friend: What do you call the white part of an egg?
Me: Yoke!
Friend: hahahaha....Egg-white, not yoke. Yoke's the middle yellow part of the egg.
Me: Okay, Okay. You got me once. Let's try it again.
Friend: How do you spell Silk?
Me: S-I-L-K (spelled by the alphabet), silk.
(This pattern was repeated quickly 4 or 5 times, or until the person realized I was in trance. Again the quick question, which required an instant reply, was thrown at me.)
Friend: What do cows drink?
Me: Milk!
Friend: hahahaha...Got you again! FYI - Cows drink water, lots of water. Calves drink milk.
Me (Feeling really silly): Alright, my turn now.
Friend (Confidently): Sure.
Me: How do you spell POTS?
Friend: P-O-T-S (spelled by the alphabet), pots.
(I got the person into the rhythm, and then threw the big question.)
Me: What do you do when you come to a green light?
Friend: Stop!
Me: hahahahahahahahahaha.....No Silly, you "GO".
Me: How do you spell ROAST?
Friend: R-O-A-S-T (spelled by the alphabet), roast.
(We followed the same repetition pattern as above, and at the right moment I made my move.)
Me: What do you put in the toaster?
Friend: Toast!
Me(thoroughly amused by our interaction): No you don't, it burns. You put bread into a toaster.
After my friend and me said goodbye that evening, the realization of the Denis Waitley talk on conditioning, which I had heard not very long ago, dawned on me.
Inspite of knowing the answers to the questions above, why did we reply the way we did?! The answer is pretty simple - we reflexed, owing to the conditioning or the programming we subjected ourselves to.
Case in point which Denis made:
Violence is a learned habit even though we know better. This is true of the more constructive habits also. Habits are easy to get into by observation, imitation, repetition.
Food for thought:
How do we allow our entertainment to condition us by repeated viewing or indulgence?
I am grateful to Denis Waitley for his talk. Although I didn't get it at the time, I do now! Better late than never I say. :)
