power

Well, still workin' on understanding this whole 'power' thing. The more I think and read and write about it, the more it seems to influence every goddamn last tiny interaction with another human I ever have.

It's frustrating. I know I'm supposed to just 'accept' it, not fight it - but dammit, seems to me there has to be a better way. Or, at least, another way. A different way. An alternative.

It's just that no communication, no matter how small, is ever what it appears to be on the surface. There are all these complicated ways in which people are constantly vying for position, seeking to establish their position in the pecking order.

If you behave in some way that appears to this person to be outside their beliefs about where you belong in the hierarchy, they will almost immediately find some way to try to 'force' you back into the position they think 'belongs' to you. (Argh, this is making my brain hurt.)