Power of Suggestion.

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The power of suggestion can be a very peculiar thing. Many of you know that I am a stock clerk at a grocery store. I used to work third shift more, but since they created the "Daytime runner", I have been doing that. I really rather enjoy it. This week, or rather four days, has been all third shift. Now I am used to the quietness of the store at night, or so I thought. Our radio has been a bit faulty and so sometimes we will go with complete silence for a half an hour before it cuts back in. Being out on the floor in utter silence, even while being alone, isn't spooky. It's when going into the back. The past two days I have taken my break alone and so venture into the back of the store and to the break room by myself. The normally quiet back room seems even quieter than I remember. Again, it's most probably the music situation. It just seems very eerie. I've tried to keep my mind blank so it won't run away with me. However, the power of suggestion is a horrible thing. Take, for instance, the times I went to the bailer last night : There are only two or three lights that stay lit at all times. The rest are motion activated and so flicker on and stay on when movement is detected. The hallway to the bailer is like this. Normally not so spooky, the area around the bailer that leads to the deli department now has me fraught with uncertainty. "It's too quiet over there." I say in my mind and then quickly load my cardboard into the bailer and walk calmly back to the sales floor. I don't let myself over react because I know who is in the store with me, and that there is no one but my manager and myself. This IS the same place where, in the past, I've talked about hearing my name (or hello), seeing movement out of the corner of my eye (when it can't possibly be a co-worker) and having the sensation of needing to move out of someone's way (again when no one was there for me to do that for). All of the above paragraph never scares me. It's normal, it happens and I don't feel threatened by it. The past two days, again probably because of the radio, has felt different. I won't say I outright feel threatened, but I do feel as if I am being watched. Maybe I am, and maybe it's just our innocent specters. Then again, it might not be.