Earliest Memories of the World Outside (was Forcing Kids To Watch History Made)

[ssk7882 <skelkins@attbi.com>]

Torsten wrote:

> When I was very little I came upon my grandmother watching a soap. 
> Since there were perfectly normal people on TV, I thought they were 
> real people and asked grandma if WE were on TV, too. That vile old 
> lady said Yes, and it took me several years to realize nobody was 
> watching me on TV all the time, that there were no hidden cameras 
> everywhere.

LOL!

When I was a child, I was morbidly convinced that my parents had 
placed hidden cameras behind all of the mirrors in the house.  The 
full-length mirror in my bedroom particularly disturbed me.  I used 
to agonize over whether I could get away with undressing in the 
corners of the room that the mirror couldn't "see," or whether this 
would be a Bad Idea, because it would let them know that I was *onto* 
them.

When I got a bit older, though, I came to realize that this had been 
a very paranoid notion indeed.  In fact, I came to believe that it 
was likely a symptom of some incipient tendency towards unfortunate 
forms of psychosis.  I therefore resolved to try to guard myself very 
closely against such forms of thinking, as they were obviously not at 
all healthy for me.

And of course, as it turns out, there were never any cameras hidden 
behind the mirrors.  What a silly notion!

No, the *cameras* were all hidden up near the ceilings, mainly.  Most 
of them were masquerading as parts of the sprinkler system.  The one 
in my bedroom was actually that thing that I had always been led to 
believe was a smoke detector.

You know, perfect paranoia is not always perfect awareness?

Sometimes, though, it can come disturbingly close.


Elkins, who remains to this day rather spooked both by mirrors and 
by "Truman Show"-type stories