Pick a card, any card. Go ahead! Pick one. What can possibly go wrong?
Well, what can possibly go wrong is that I have a reasonable working knowledge of Tarot cards. And I am familiar enough to know that the card I pick isn't necessarily something that I need in my life right now.
You see, people like to tell me secrets. I don't know if it's because I started out in the journalism program and had to interview people, or if it's because I sometimes appear to care. (Generally speaking, I do not care, so proceed with caution when approaching.) But, people tell me stuff. Either that or I have really sensitive ESP, which has also been true.
There's a decent amount of bullshit going on at work right now. It seems to be much more BS than the usual year-end BS at school, but, for some reason that still baffles me, I know stuff. I know stuff before other people know it, people who should know who don't know it, but I know it. I try to explain to people that no, I was not eavesdropping somewhere. I just know shit. Even holding a gun to my head could not get me to confess my sources: I simply don't have any.
Oh, it's rumor, you say? I'm making it up?
Decades ago (when I was a teenager) I was babysitting at a house when an adult friend called the adult member of the household (not home -- I was babysitting, remember). The caller did not leave a message. When the homeowner arrived home, I said, "Oh, Lady called. No message. But. I think ..." And I proceeded to tell her the secret the caller would indeed divulge in the future, yet I had zero knowledge as to the secret's existence. A few days later, the woman for whom I babysat asked me how in the world I knew what the caller was going to divulge. I was dumbfounded.
I. Don't. Know.
Back to the Tarot Card. I'm at an event that is supposed to be relaxing. I pick a card from one deck, a meditation (not Tarot) deck, and it is a card assuring me that I have the power to make positive things happen in my life. That's good. I'll take it. Then a human voice nearby says, "Oh, pick a card from the Tarot deck, too. Why not?"
Why not? Because it's a Tarot deck, you doofus. Do you know nothing? And so I pick out a card because I'm not very good at telling people no.
Seven of Swords. At least it's not the Hanged Man nor the reversed Wheel of Fortune, right? Well, it might as well be. Taken in a work context, this card couldn't be worse. It represents lies and trickery and deceitful coworkers. Enemies who masquerade as friends. Or, it could be bad news for my finances. Or, it could mean that my health is not as good as it should be. It's like a giant black cloud just settled over my life, and this is not very relaxing as I am going into a relaxation class.
This is why I don't go to fortune tellers or have my cards read or let anyone look at my palm. I don't want to know this crap. I already have enough of that going on inside my own head.
Or, I could just be making it up. After all, this is the Tarot card of mental manipulation. Perhaps I'm just playing along.
