Page 199 - The Social Animal

5

Self-Justification

Picture the following scene: A young man named Sam is being
hypnotized. The hypnotist gives Sam a posthypnotic suggestion,
telling him that, when the clock strikes 4:00, he will (1) go to
the closet, get his raincoat and galoshes, and put them on; (2) grab
an umbrella; (3) walk eight blocks to the supermarket and purchase
six bottles of bourbon; and (4) return home. Sam is told that, as
soon as he reenters his apartment, he will “snap out of it” and be
himself again.
When the clock strikes 4:00, Sam immediately heads for the
closet, dons his raincoat and galoshes, grabs his umbrella, and
trudges out the door on his quest for bourbon. There are a few
strange things about this errand: (1) it is a clear, sunshiny day—there
isn’t a cloud in the sky; (2) there is a liquor store half a block away
that sells bourbon for the same price as the supermarket eight blocks
away; and (3) Sam doesn’t drink.
Sam arrives home, opens the door, reenters his apartment, snaps
out of his “trance,” and discovers himself standing there in his rain-
coat and galoshes, with his umbrella in one hand and a huge sack of
liquor bottles in the other. He looks momentarily confused. His
friend, the hypnotist, says,
“Hey, Sam, where have you been?”

“Oh, just down to the store.”

“What did you buy?”
“Um . . . um . . . it seems I bought this bourbon.”