Psionics for the Headblind Herd, The Community Center, Tuesday Evening
"Don't worry, it's not another genderswap day and nobody told you," Jack deadpanned, as he walked into the classroom at the community center. The sensitives in the room might pick up that he was nervous about his first time teaching, but he kept his exterior unruffled. "Emma's been called out of town and she asked Bobby and me to cover. My name's Jack Priest and today, we're going to discuss living with psychics as one of the poor deprived headblind. If you area telepath, please, chime in during the discussion."
He leaned back against a table, crossed his arms. "The first thing is privacy. It doesn't exist. You get used to it, or you don't. Shielding's a basic courtesy, if you can learn it -- but not everyone can, and sometimes you won't have the energy. That said, most telepaths can find better ways to spend their time than listening to you mentally nattering on about whether you look fat in your pants. Imagine a room with a thousand radios playing, and think about how closely you could follow any one broadcast, and that's about how hard most psychics I've known listen to most people most of the time."
"The second thing" -- and here he sounded more sympathetic -- "is headaches. They're fairly universal with mental powers, from what I can tell. Treat them like any illness. Bring cool drinks, bring aspirin, don't sit outside the telepath's room and think loud things at her unless you're trying to be mean."
"And the third is mind-to-mind communication. The first time there's a voice in your head can be … deeply unpleasant. Try not to jump or shout. But if you pick up the trick of speaking mentally -- and I found it surprisingly easy -- it's extremely useful when you can't have your conversation aloud."
He glanced to his co-teacher. "Anything to add, Bobby?"
“For all that talk of telepaths not being interested in your everyday thoughts- sometimes, that’s not gonna be true,” Bobby said matter-of-factly. “Just like the rest of us are prone to eavesdropping on occasion, if you’re around telepaths and you happen to know something they want to know- that’s when the shielding is less of a courtesy and more for your own benefit.” Yeah, he’d had more than a few people rummaging around in his head for information at points, could you tell?
“If you don’t know how to shield thoughts specifically, singing a song in your head can sometimes work. Although that one can backfire because it’s sort of like a signal to anyone who might be listening in that there’s something you don’t want them to know.”
"Kind of like talking in Pig Latin," Jack had to agree, before turning to the group. "And now it's your turn. What's one thing you've learned about living with telepaths? If you are a telepath, what's one thing you with people knew about you?"
[OOC: Cowritten with the splenderificous longislandiceme]
He leaned back against a table, crossed his arms. "The first thing is privacy. It doesn't exist. You get used to it, or you don't. Shielding's a basic courtesy, if you can learn it -- but not everyone can, and sometimes you won't have the energy. That said, most telepaths can find better ways to spend their time than listening to you mentally nattering on about whether you look fat in your pants. Imagine a room with a thousand radios playing, and think about how closely you could follow any one broadcast, and that's about how hard most psychics I've known listen to most people most of the time."
"The second thing" -- and here he sounded more sympathetic -- "is headaches. They're fairly universal with mental powers, from what I can tell. Treat them like any illness. Bring cool drinks, bring aspirin, don't sit outside the telepath's room and think loud things at her unless you're trying to be mean."
"And the third is mind-to-mind communication. The first time there's a voice in your head can be … deeply unpleasant. Try not to jump or shout. But if you pick up the trick of speaking mentally -- and I found it surprisingly easy -- it's extremely useful when you can't have your conversation aloud."
He glanced to his co-teacher. "Anything to add, Bobby?"
“For all that talk of telepaths not being interested in your everyday thoughts- sometimes, that’s not gonna be true,” Bobby said matter-of-factly. “Just like the rest of us are prone to eavesdropping on occasion, if you’re around telepaths and you happen to know something they want to know- that’s when the shielding is less of a courtesy and more for your own benefit.” Yeah, he’d had more than a few people rummaging around in his head for information at points, could you tell?
“If you don’t know how to shield thoughts specifically, singing a song in your head can sometimes work. Although that one can backfire because it’s sort of like a signal to anyone who might be listening in that there’s something you don’t want them to know.”
"Kind of like talking in Pig Latin," Jack had to agree, before turning to the group. "And now it's your turn. What's one thing you've learned about living with telepaths? If you are a telepath, what's one thing you with people knew about you?"
[OOC: Cowritten with the splenderificous longislandiceme]