Having read the story of Tom Sawyer

Mark Twain wrote a book where the protagonist was a kid called Tom Sawyer who knew how to ‘work his brain‘ as we would say in Jamaica.

All the kids were playing when Tom’s Aunt made him whitewash the fence.

So there he was, having to do this chore, while everyone else was having a good time.    Being Tom, he began to whitewash the fence making the task seem enjoyable.  Soon enough everyone wanted to try it.

In a short time, Tom’s friends were whitewashing the fence and Tom was doing not much.

Now Tom was good at what he did, but I’m better.
I can get people to undertake the most obnoxious tasks.   Tasks they would never think of or agree to.
I can do it by simply volunteering.

In every group I’ve been in, I have usually occupied the position of ‘Scorn‘.   That is, the person no one likes, no one trusts, and everyone is sure has some ulterior motive.   Whatever it is, if I say I’ll do it, someone else will take on the job.

You probably don’t believe me. A friend of mine didn’t.   He began one of those long winded babbles and I told him that I’d prove it.

Miss G had died in a particular flat on the compound.   I saw the pretentious prig  who is in charge and told him that my friend and I would clean out the flat.

My friend put his big hand on my shoulder, nearly dislocated my collar bone, because of all the horrible ideas ever uttered this was the absolute worst.

The Prig looked at me.  His mouth in a knot, then quickly says he has already asked his wife is to do that, and walked off.

Now it was clear, even to my friend, that Prig was lying.    That Prig, given a solution to a problem preferred to toss it, because I had suggested it.

For three days, the Prig’s wife went through the stuff.  She carried things to the veranda because she was afraid to be alone in that room.

My friend stared at her in amazement, he could not comprehend how it was that I had ‘volunteered’ he and myself and that it would be turned down.

Every time I saw that poor wife, going through the junk,  I choked on a laugh and my friend stared at me in awe.

Tom Sawyer made people think that whitewashing a fence was fun so they would do it.     I don’t have to create any aura about a task.

I just have to volunteer.

Being the Scorn, anything I suggest is an instant ‘No’.

I’m sure, if you think about your life, you might find people that do not like you.   You can get them to jump through hoops by volunteering to perform some horrible task.

People who don’t like you, operate on the principle;

“Whatever you want, ‘No’.”