HYPNOSIS

My friend Bobbi saw an ad in the newspaper for an hypnosis event. It promised cures for a great number of problems including weight loss and smoking cessation. As I am always up for an "adventure", I agreed to go with her to cure my lifelong problem: I'm a grown woman who is afraid of the dark; there's always a light on in my house and there's always a light outside. Once my brother Bode was visiting and he was the last one to go to bed and he turned off all of the lights as he did in his home. When I awoke there was no light visible under the door from the hallway and there was no moon visible out the window. I pounded on Gerald to wake up and he turned on a light inside the closet.

Although I was willing to try, I'm a skeptic and I told Bobbi, "From that ad I half-expect we'll have world peace."

The event was held in a church basement. One person wanted to stop smoking, one had claustrophobia, another was afraid to fly but most wanted to lose weight. I sheepishly cofessed that I was afraid of the dark. The hypnotist began his routine but I could feel no sensation of "going under". We were supposed to keep our eyes closed but I admit I was peeking sidelong glances and I could see the others in the class swaying.

Suddenly the church bells rang and I jumped out of my seat. The hypnotist told me that some people can't/won't be put under hypnosis. All the others in the class remained in their seats and continued swaying as the hypnotist's voice quietly told them, "You're in a deep, deep sleep." In a few minutes he would bring one of them awake and have the person perform some comical act and he would tell them that whatever the problem was, the hypnosis would cure it.

Well, Bobbi didn't lose any weight, we don't have world peace and I'm still afraid of the dark.