We are sitting at a table in a quiet cafe and admiring the autumn gloom of the street. My interlocutor is a man of about forty, a good old friend. You don't need his real name, so let's call him Vlad. Usually a man of few words, today he opened up. And he admitted in detail what I had suspected him of for a long time. The fact is that he is a simple Russian energy vampire... I quote the conversation that followed without comment and practically without cuts: O (Oleg Kolmychok): Well, damn it, Vlad gave it away! What are you even talking about? V (Vlad): Who the hell knows what I mean. You are a psychologist with us, so you must listen and treat with understanding. A: Okay, let's be understanding. Do you come from an ancient energy vampire family or did you receive a “black” initiation from a teacher? :-)B: No, everything is much simpler. I would say more banal. I remember once in my childhood – I was probably 6-8 years old – we were playing in the room with my brothers. Suddenly someone didn’t share something, a fuss, a fight, and shouting began. The adults (mothers and aunts) rushed in and added their shouting to the general chorus. And suddenly I somehow internally distanced myself from all this. And so I felt quiet, calm, pleasant. All the surrounding screams and nerves turned into a gentle, cozy blanket that wrapped me securely. And the more passions raged, the more pleasant and calm I became. Like after a hearty dinner. A: It turns out that after that you began to deliberately provoke people into emotions? Q: Not that yes, and not that no. How can I explain this to you?.. In two cases, in general. Or in response, well, like self-defense. For example, I think it was in third grade. One girl who she was sitting with completely blew his brains out. She mocked me in every possible way, bringing her to the point of white heat once or twice. And now we find ourselves at the same desk. What started here is beyond words. In general, I found a scythe on a stone, as they say. O: So this girl was the same as you - an energy vampire? Q: An energy vampire - yes, but the same as me - no. Lately, when I started thinking about all this, I figured that we, i.e. There are several races of “vampires”. The first race is “Solar”. They love to be visible. In leadership positions. I answer you - more than half of all bosses (whether small pimples or super-duper directors) are energy vampires. They love to press their poor subordinates under their fingernails so that the juice splashes out. Well, I mean, snot, tears, emotions appeared. The second race is “Lunar”. By the way, that girl was from the Moon. So, they seem to like to play with their prey. Drain her energy longer. And a quiet and submissive sacrifice is no longer suitable for them. They will definitely bother you. And the third race is “Secret”. We don’t seem to be doing anything on purpose, but people voluntarily give us energy. O: How is this? Q: So I’ve already started talking about it. Do you remember about self-defense? Simply put, when someone wants to throw out negativity on us, we turn the situation around in such a way that he puts much more into his impulse than he planned and fizzles out quickly, while the “Secret” one, on the contrary, is full, drunk and has a nose full of tobacco. Another case this is when no one is really going to touch me, but the situation around is tense, ready to explode. Then I make sure that it explodes (and it would still explode - a little earlier or a little later!), but without harm to the participants and with great benefit for me. Well, sometimes a special situation turns up. Like a free banquet. Let's say there are a lot of people around and they are all in a panic. When I was a student, I remember they announced that the university was mined. Everyone is screaming, fussing, rushing about. They evacuate hastily. And I walk leisurely, feasting. Calm as a stone Buddha. O: Wait, Vlad. You've given me a whole theory here. Does this mean that from childhood you understood who you were? Q: No. Since childhood I have only smelled it. And I began to understand not so long ago. Do you remember how you almost dragged me to training five years ago? A: Yes, it happened. What was it called?..V: Oh, that’s not the point... In general, there were a lot of strange exercises, but one of!!!