Our strong point is that we care so much. Our weak point is that we often underestimate the people with whom we're dealing. They know what they're doing. It is time we give up our naive assumption that people don't follow agendas of their own in their best interest, and not necessarily in ours.
Oh boy, did that strike true with me today. I was the most predictable "hook" around. And my son was good, ohhhh yes, he wouldn't ask or make it about "me" which gave him a self-defensive escape if I called him on it.
"I went to the doctors and have pneumonia and need a prescription that costs $30. I don't have $30 so I guess I'll just try to shake it myself *cough* *cough*" (he wasn't sick at all)
Or the multi-tiered hook, the hook that just keeps on hooking, LOL
I have to leave this little apartment tomorrow, too many people using around here and I can't stay anymore and would rather live under a bridge than here....(not hooked, he never lived under a bridge in his life)....a couple of them are looking to hurt me because I owe them $60 from ages ago when I was using and I know they will do what they say they will do (not hooked, I scrambled once for $500 on this same hook and then saw it for what it was, a free pass to buy drugs)...and I went to the doctors today and he says I have pneumonia and need a prescription...(oh brother, here we go again).
It was hard to say no, it was hard to not buy into the drama because any of it "could" have been true, but even if it was, rescuing him just became old because the rescue just gave him time to stabilize before he went on his next round of using.
What are the words, the signs, the looks, the hints, and the cues that hook us into a predictable and often self-defeating behavior?
LOL, this part made me laugh. Many years ago, my son used to drive tow truck and in most of his more outlandish stories there was a tow truck in there somewhere...that ALWAYS tipped me off that it was a lie, even when I had already almost been hooked. "I ran into Louie the Lardhead today, you know the guy I used to drive with who was the meanest man in town. I forgot I owed him $60 and so I can't come for dinner because if he knows where I am he'll kill me".
Sorry this is so long, but it just hit home with me today and I'm glad I'm in a better place today.
Hugs