I envy people who can switch off their hearing at their will. I have always been more receptive to what I hear and I normally seem to hear everything people say to me. Even as a student I used to read my lessons aloud so it registered better. It was always a joke among my friends and siblings to see me solve arithmetic problems talking to my notebook. Now this has caused a major problem for me with my maid. She is also about my age and perhaps going through similar problems of all women in their middle age. Unfortunately for me she has no husband to vent her frustrations on. It seems like she has decided to elevate me to the level of a psychiatrist . So everyday she starts talking to me about her problems with her neighbours, her relatives and all the minor details of her life and there seems to be no dearth of them in their lives. The worst part is that everyday the story starts at the same point some 20 years ago when her cows and her sheep died as a result of some black magic that her brother in law practiced in order to drive her and her children out of her house so he could appropriate the property to himself. Property? Oh yes, a 20 ft by 10 ft plot on which she has her house. I have suggested buying an alternate plot for her but she will hear none of it one because she wants to fight for her rights , and two because it is where she lived with her husband. No amount of gentle hints that I have heard them all a hundred times over deter her. She doesn’t hear my protests at all, blessed soul so you see it is I who has the problem!
So she goes on each day to treat me to all the gory details of the death of each cow and calf and the illnesses brought up on her and her children as a result of her wicked relative’s maneuverings. Now it seems pretty rude and insensitive for me to tell her that these details don’t interest me nor can I switch off my mind while someone is talking! So it goes on day after day. May be she feels better after the sessions.
I cannot get rid of her for she has been with me for over 20 years now and it is not done to give her the pink slip just like that!
I am willing to pay for her professional psychiatric treatment but scared to suggest it to her as she may be offended that I am calling her a nut case. So I listen to every word in frustration day after day and run for an aspirin and coffee when it becomes too much. One of these days when this fails, may be I will get an appointment with a shrink!
Or I could teacher to BLOG!