Here's a what-if scenario for you to consider...
Suppose you woke up one day and found your bed surrounded by strangers.
They'd obviously done this to someone before. A group of people don't learn to coordinate with each other shoulder to shoulder by accident.
You get out of bed half-asleep and just dismiss what you're seeing as a left over dream. As you make your way to the bath room this small group keeps pace with you. Each individual stays just out of reach. Even better news... they seem to be quicker than you are regardless of how you try get past them.
It doesn't end there.
There's never any physical contact between you and them. That doesn't seem to be the point. Even if you were the kind of person to throw a punch it's a waste of movement. Instead they use taunts and vague threats worded to bring out your own worries or fears.
It's a psychological game to them and the most civil thing you get to hear are the questions they ask where the answer can only be A or B. You can either 'Pick One' or the psychological game continues until you either break down or just tell them what they want to hear.
But of course this doesn't affect your free will or sense of freedom. I mean how can it? You can still go wherever you want and do the things you want to do. But it's going to happen surrounded by strangers that have found a way to bully, harass, and intimidate you.
If they were physically in your home you could have them kicked out. And direct action to stop what's being done could be taken if you could see them with your own eyes. Of course they don't make vehicles that accommodate a group of strangers just out of reach but you probably can visualize what I'm describing.
If it was you... would you politely ask these strangers to leave? Would you taunt or threaten them back? How long would you wait before you tried any of those things?
Let's give them a really professional PR firm that had plenty of time to portray things their way. By the time you realized you could use some help you couldn't explain how things got where they were without being labeled 'crazy'. Another label might be 'wanting attention'. You waited too long to stop it decisively. That's when you start hearing something else with the taunts and threats: 'this isn't going to stop until you tell us what we want' in a mocking tone.
Thankfully there's no way a scenario like that could ever occur.
How could it?
So I'm using this blog to detail a situation I've found myself in. It might get restructured a time or two. My apologies in advance.
