To be tempted to visit a medium?

[TeddingtonTrashbag]

I am totally non-Woo, but a friend’s birthday is soon and when consulted she said she would really like to visit a medium again. She. believes in all that stuff but says she has only ever been convinced by two mediums and is keen to book one of them for her snd ne, if we can get him on that day. I am tempted, mainly because I want to see what questions he asks me for cold readingI have already said that if we go, I will go first so he can’t read anything from her about me and want yo give a false name so he can’t check me our on SM.
What do you think?
YABU - forget it -you are a sceptic and he’ll clock that, so get her a spa day instead
YANBU - it’s her treat, be respectful and go by with the flow

I wouldn't personally trust them, but it's your life.

@Earlydancing

'Why would you give money to someone who you know for a fact is ripping you off, even if it is 'just for a laugh'.

I look at it as a form of entertainment. I've sat through films that were crap, fell asleep at the theatre, a concert where I left at the interval. I've even been to a casino and lost money. You pick a form of entertainment and pay for it.

Yes, we've all been to entertainment that has disappointed us but generally when you go to a film or concert the people putting it on aren't doing so with express purpose of setting out to scam you, except with the casino I suppose, but at least with a casino you do have some chance of coming out with a gain.

I once read tarot cards for people on here. Despite telling people that I myself believe that fortune telling is impossible and I was just doing it for fun - that I was in fact having to look up the meanings of half of the cards as I went along, and that everyone was absolutely forbidden from taking it seriously, people got really, really into it.

People told me I had a genuine gift, that I was spookily accurate, and people started asking me serious questions about really upsetting life events (which I refused to answer, obviously), it was bizarre.

It really opened my eyes. I had thought fortune telling was a bit of fun, but actually I now think it's quite a cruel thing to do. There are so many people out there who are feeling lost, anxious and desperate and are looking for help - to pretend that you have the answers is a horrible thing to do. My thread showed how easy it would be to take advantage of people. I felt like a tool by the end of it, and I'd only done it for free on Mumsnet. Anyone who actually charges for fortune telling I now hold in complete contempt.

The spirits say... "you will soon lose a small amount of money".

Don't know how I do it. That'll be £25 and please make the cheque payable to Hollowgast the all-knowing.

The spirits say... "you will soon lose a small amount of money"

Aftee I read a biography of Houdini, STBXH and I agreed on a code word that we would say as a ‘spirit’ after death if we supposedly appeared at a seance.

Yes, I remember reading Houdini's wife saying this.
We should all do this. That would put the charlatans to bed.
None of them predicted the pandemic.

I couldn't do it. I feel really strongly about mediums and consider them scammy charlatans. I wouldn't pay them a penny. To me it's like insisting your veggie friend has to eat at a steak restaurant on your birthday. I would politely refuse and ask them what their second choice gift might be.