Posted 30 August 2012 - 07:32 PM
DawnleK, I do not doubt your sincerity. The fact that you responded to a clearly skeptical and perhaps adversarial challenge to the best of your ability proves to all of us, even me, that you are not a cynical fraud who is just in it for the money. People like that would ignore challenges like mine which they couldn't possibly get right unless they genuinely had psychic abilities, or at least believed that they had.
That being said, you are almost completely dead wrong. I am a light-skinned male aged 48 with dark blond hair - no hint of red whatsoever. I am not wearing a gray T-shirt - I am wearing a black full-sleeved shirt, not made by Fruit of the Loom. I was not persuaded to conduct this extremely informal experiment by a hypothetical female - I just happened upon it all by myself. I have no siblings at all, nor any children - certainly not some boy who is emotionally but not biologically mine! The references to boats mean nothing - neither me nor anyone in my immediate family has anything to do with the sea, or has ever owned a yacht. Likewise, the phrase "city work" doesn't apply to anyone close to me in any meaningful way. Also, the name "Sam", though fairly common, has absolutely no place in my life whatsoever. And I have never worked in any capacity in a hospital.
My real name is Michael. I was not given this name because anyone in my family ever had it before - I was named after a gold medal portraying the Archangel MIchael won by my grandfather on World War One. If you had hinted at this in any way I would have given you full credit for it, but you missed it completely.
I probably am "stubborn", and "bold" is a matter of opinion. But unfortunately I have a lifetime's history of mental instability. which we needn't go into here. The point is, you are describing me as the exact opposite of what I am. Hey, I said I'd be honest - it would be more flattering to lie about that bit! You also claim that I was much closer to my mother than my father, who was frequently away from home due to his work. In fact, my mother was mentally unstable and not easy to like, and was sometimes away from home for long periods due to mental illness. I was much closer to my father, who was never away from home outside normal working hours. Though he was certainly a very "respectable" man in every respect - he was a senior mathematics lecturer. If you'd mentioned that my father had something to do with numbers, or science, or that my name was somehow angelic, or connected with the Great War, I might have been impressed. But you made exactly zero statements with any kind of emotional resonance for me.
Oh, and that addendum regarding my military connection? My uncle, who I never liked at all, seldom saw, and who dies about 20 years ago, was moderately senior in the British Army. If that's a connection, I'll give you that - but I'd call it tenuous.
I'm NOT saying you're a fraud, because that implies dishonesty. I am fully persuaded that you think that you have these abilities, and you use them as best you can to make the world a better place. Well, good for you! I personally think you're mistaken in your assessment of your own psychic powers, but then, you have faith, and I do not. And many reasons exist why you may be utterly wrong about me, yet not basically wrong about many other things. That's religion, and I simply don't get it at all. However, I've been absolutely candid regarding the accuracy of your reading. If you'd been more accurate, I would have given you full credit. And I hope you will believe that it's beneath me to lie just to make a complete stranger look bad.
Oh, by the way, I don't really see the point of "working" with you to figure out who Sam is. Thinking back, the most significant "Sam" in my entire life was a cat called Samantha who I briefly owned about 30 years ago before she died of a rare cat disease. I would be struggling very hard to find a profound meaning in that.
I'm not trying to be sarcastic - it's merely that, like all non-believers, all I ever get from any manifestation of the alleged "Spirit World" are trite homilies and broad generalities that anyone could have guessed. I mean. my grandfather wasn't famous, but he was extraordinarily talented in his own field - do you have the slightest idea what he did? Or what his name was? I'm not James Randi. I'm not rabid. Tell me something specific and I may very well be impressed. But until then, I think you're clutching at straws. I've been honest with you, and I think you've been honest with me. So what's wrong with just one psychic giving us all just one piece of information that's actually impressive? I promise you that if you tell me something about myself that you couldn't possibly have known, I will admit it, no matter what it is. I make this potentially embarrassing promise because I do not think for one moment that you can. But f the joke's on me, I will keep it.