I’m soooooo, sorry. I didn’t mean to instill any MORE paranoia. Nowadays—in this business—there is too much paranoia already…

Listen,

Once, two decades, ago, the Sheika was doing taste aversion research in a psychology lab at a rather semi-prestigious, west coast university.

It was a long time ago.

The Sheik was a foreign student at the time. It was before LCD read-outs and digital counters were invented. In those days, we had such difficulty recording responses. But, I digress. Anyway,

One morning, the Sheik shows up at the psych lab to feed the rats, check the counters, shuffle papers and peruse the weekly calendar in the reception area.

It’s early—before sunrise--and the place is silent and totally deserted. I turn on the lights and commence to go about my chores.

Everything looks normal in the outer office, so I proceed to other rooms and go about my duties with the zealous dedication that is the hallmark of every new graduate student who is finally getting their first taste of REAL science.

In the back rooms, there is the slight buzz of the electric monitoring equipment, but other than that, everything is quite and everything seems to be in order. So, I return to the reception area in the outer office, make some coffee, and begin to sit-down at my desk…

But, while still standing, I notice something scrolled in grease pencil on the white board that hangs behind my desk.  I KNOW the message wasn’t there the first time I came through this room, and “how it got there” to this day I do not know.      

The message was too small to read, so I stepped forward to get a closer look. I see that it is a message that was very appropriate for a psych lab. It was an ultimate conundrum that described the paradoxical state that we all find ourselves in from time to time. It was a profound comment concerning the state of paranoia. Her it is:

JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK SOMEONE IS AFTER YOU, IT DOESN’T MEAN THEY’RE NOT.

Peace and love,

Sheik Fatima