When I was in college, a girl in my general orbit (friends, friends of friends, acquaintances, classmates, etc.) was “getting mugged” every week. She lived a commuter train ride away in a dicey area, so it was plausible, but after the third time, I said to myself that some guy in her life (boyfriend? father? brother?) was beating her up. It continued. I expressed my beliefs to some people in my circle. I was instantly and universally shot down, ridiculed, and scorned for having this belief. I shrugged my shoulders and kept my mouth shut. This girl kept showing up to school with black eyes, her arm in a cast, etc. Everyone bemoaned her terrible luck, asked her to try to get home during daylight hours, etc. Me: hmmm....that won’t make any difference. Eventually, she disappeared. A year went by, and she reappeared. She spilled the story that her boyfriend had been pummeling her. She fled after a particularly brutal beating and had to go into hiding. When she felt safe enough she registered for school again and was no longer keeping secrets. Reaction of the crowd: OMG can you believe it????? Me: WTF. Do you think anyone said something along the lines of “you were right all along!” to me? Nope. No one did. I could see it, plain as day. No one else, nobody, could see what was right in front of them. I think about that a lot now. I know all those people got jabbed. It’s a blessing and a curse to be able to see what no one else can. In this case it’s keeping me alive. As always, people mostly resist and reject my (very seldom offered) opinions.