Imagine standing on the train platform,
listening to the distant approaching train,
and you hear a voice say -
unprovoked -
"Don't worry, I'm not going to shove you."
I predict you would take two steps back before you try to divine meaning.
And when that speaker objects, saying,
"Brother, you misheard me. I said I'm NOT going to shove you in front of the train."
He'll not have improved his credibility through clarity of negation,
especially if he gently lays a fraternal hand upon your shoulder.
It's like being told to not think of a white bear.
An inseparable seed of murder is sewn into those words.
