I See Thought Bubbles

I see thought bubbles, I really do. Whenever I talk to anyone, or sometimes just looking at them. I see them!

Habit

It’s become something of a habit now, starting from the moment I get up until the last thing at night. I’ll give you an example of how my day usually starts. The first important job of the day after showering etc is to make a pot of English breakfast tea. Sit down, check my email, by which time the tea is ready for pouring. I always take a mug of tea to my wife who gets up after me. It’s usually early, still dark and cool in the bedroom. She’s really not the person I know when I wake her and although she’s always very polite and thankful for her wake-up drink, I can see the thought bubble she emanates.

Bubbles

It’s like someone blowing bubbles from a bottle, there are half a dozen small ones followed by a much bigger one and it contains words! Usually along the lines of, “Thank you, Sweetheart, now bugger off and leave me alone!” I never say anything, so I leave the mug on her bedside table and make a sharp exit. It’s the same with most people I meet during the day. Catching a bus into town the other day and I showed the driver my bus pass. You know how the photo on these things makes you look like you’ve just been arrested for mass murder, he looked at it and looked at me then back and forth a couple of more times. Bloop, out came the thought bubbles, “Poor sod, the photo is an improvement over the real thing.”

Cashier got to the tin of Germolene

Afflicted

It is a terrible affliction, not being able to face anyone without the now-familiar ber-loop sound followed by them damn bubbles and the always derogatory thoughts. In the local store, I filled my trolley with the usual groceries and then queued to pay for them. I don’t use the self-checkout tills, they destroy jobs, mind you, they don’t have thought bubbles. The bleep-bleep of the items being scanned went well until the cashier got to the tin of Germolene. She actually paused for a couple of seconds and we made eye contact. Nothing was said, but……… bloop, “Ooh, I bet you’ve got piles, ooh I bet they’re driving you crazy!” I went red-faced and she just carried on, unaware that I knew what she had thought.

On The Phone

It happens on the phone too. When I called the Doctors surgery last week to make an appointment, the receptionist answered, introduced herself and said the name of the surgery then asked who it was calling. As soon as I said my name, there was a silence of around 5 seconds. That’s a long time at the end of a phone. Guess what, the silence was broken by……bloop, “Oh it’s that daft old codger with the piles.” I could see the bubbles float out of the handset and away through the window.

…bloop and out come the thought bubbles.

Paranoid

You see, if someone has something nice to say, including me, they just come out with it and say it. On the other hand, when they’re not pleased with you or happy to see you, …..bloop and out come the thought bubbles. I wonder if anyone else experiences this sort of thing? I wonder if people know that I have this talent and can see their thought bubbles? I wonder if anyone can see mine, shock horror? It’s not for me to get everyone paranoid, but next time you talk or even just look at someone, eye to eye, listen out for the bloop and see if you can catch them thought bubbles filled with wonder.

There’s even a webpage about using thought bubbles for teaching.