Do you have ESP?

David’s Weekend Wandering poses the question, “Do you have ESP?”.

The answer to that question, David, is “Oh yes. Not only do I have ESP but I am the fount of all wisdom”.
Where do I start? I’m a father with two kids, both grown up now, but when they were small they believed I had the answer to anything and everything. I am sure many fathers can identify with this.

“Dad, what is that man doing?”
“Dad, why is that lady taking……..?”
“How do you make a…….?”
“Dad, where is…….?”
“Dad, what do you do if…….?”
“Who is that?”
“Where can I find…….?”

Imparting my gardening knowledge to the kids
The questions were endless and the subjects diverse. To say that I did not know the answer was not good enough – they wanted answers and they wanted them now and believed implicitly that I had them. Whatever I told them they believed, so I had to be careful that the answers were not too tall. They were quick to learn and could soon distinguish between fact and fiction.

I became known as the “All seeing, all knowing daddy”.

The legacy lives on to this day. Ian and C live in a country in North Africa and she was desperately trying to get two books for her University studies. Here is a transcript of a Skype discussion:

Ian says: we have tried 10 shops in Kenya, and phoned SA flat to find them, not even the University, the ones who prescribed the books, know where to get them?????

Max says: What are their names?

Ian says: Introduction to Business management, 6th Edition, by Cronje et al, 2004
Introduction to Communication Studies, Cape Town, Juta, ISBN: 0702172618

Ian says: Do you have any ideas?

Max says: I don't see that this should be a problem. We can try van Skaiks or go directly to Juta for the second one

Ian says: Can you please try? It is impossible from this end

Max says: Nothing is impossible with the internet, but don't worry as the all seeing all knowing daddy, I will phone them tomorrow

Ian says: Good

Ian says: Thanks, just remember, in 5 weeks, I am going to be the all seeing all knowing daddy! (They were expecting their first child)

Max says: You will be dumb and stupid for a while then the questions will start and you then you will be all seeing and all knowing. Then when she gets to be a teenager you will be dumb again, but that only last until the early 20's.

Ian says: I am never going to be dumb, I will be the oracle!

Max says: No, you do not decide - it just happens.

In the meantime I was doing a quick search on Kalahari.net and in a matter of seconds found the information they needed and continued the conversation.

Max says: Introduction to business management: 6 Revised Edition
Author: Dr M.D.C. Motlatla; K. Marais; Prof G.J. de J Cronje; Prof G.S. du Toit
Format: Softcover Delivery time: Usually within 5 working days. Price R 325.50

Ian says: how did you do that?

Simple........“I'm The all seeing all knowing daddy”.

On a more serious note I have had many ESP experiences in my life. Here are a few:

I had a close bond with my mother. It often happened when I said I was going to phone her, she would phone me within a matter of minutes. Or if I phoned her, she would say that she had just told John (my step dad) that she was going to phone me. It happened too often to be coincidental.

When I was in the army out in the field I had a very vivid dream about my parents two Ridgeback pups, Mutt and Jeff, drowning. It was so vivid that when I got back to civilization I phoned to find out about them. My mom told me they had drowned in the neighbours dip tank.

Then there was an incident early in 1977, in the war years in Zimbabwe, when I said to Sue that I was worried about my parents and needed to phone them. I was concerned that there were terrorists in the area. There was really no obvious cause for concern as their farm was not in an operational area. In those days we would phone from a call box, via an exchange. It took anything up to an hour for a call to come through. When it did my mom told me that a group of terrorists had passed through the farm. A few months later my father became the first casualty of the war in that area.

There is also the still small voice that I ‘hear” sometimes. Not literally, but in my subconscious. It tells me to do things, or warns me of something I should have done or had neglected. If I ignore it, I invariably experience a problem. It is generally something out of the ordinary – not anything on my conscience.

I cannot explain these things........there is no logic, but they happened.