Life, as it happens

Provoke

I thought I could involve her parents, but I’ve observed that they play mind tricks.

How they work is something like this:

They start talking normally.
They provoke the other person (OP). Try to make him angry.
OP replies calmly or just listens quietly.
Provoke OP more.
OP retorts, unable to hold back. Loses his cool.
Now hold the OP responsible for the angry words he said.
Claim that these angry words are the real and final meaning.
Ignore whatever we discussed calmly before.
OP cannot claim the same – they cannot be held responsible for the angry words spoken by them.

You see the trap? I think the way out of it is not to respond at all. As Sri Krishna says, having self-control goes a long way.

Another technique they use is to threaten and blackmail.

Some examples:

Doxxing: gather address and phone number of my sister and threaten me that they will ruin her life.
Blackmail me that they will incite my wife to break out of our relationship – instead of making peace as parents, they threaten to break up. When asked why, they hold the words spoken by my dad grudgingly.

The feeling of tit-for-tat and revenge is very strong. Far too many instances to list here.