A rash of robberies had been circulating the metro. No, it’s not the gun-up-your-nose variety. Word on the street told of something more spine-chilling.

The modus operandi smacked of urban legend: an unsuspecting commuter would run into a total stranger. Next thing he knew, he was happily withdrawing his entire savings at the closest ATM and forking it over. No resistance. No shots fired. Everyone was happy. At least, until the poor fella got home and snapped out of it. That’s when the wailing and gnashing of teeth began.

I dismissed the stories at first. I believe in mind power and I practice conversational hypnosis, but there’s no way sneaky NLP can compel even a doofus to part with his ATM.

But then my friend, Dr. H. got robbed. Same modus operandi. He grinned all the way home… then snapped out of it.

Ye Gods! What had happened?

I talked with my 72 year old friend. He talked with the police. Ultimately we discovered how it was done.

Yes, conversational hypnosis was used. The thieves were master storey tellers; they can create rapport with words and nonverbal communication. But they had extra help.

A drug. Similar to truth serum.

The police revealed that some miscreants surreptitiously administer the drug through some transdermal patch or a tiny needle. They’d bump into you and whoops…. you never notice you’ve been stuck. There goes your capability to resist. You’d feel like a happy hippie saying “yeah man” to everything they say.

Hmmmm…. if what the cops say is true, then we may as well go around wearing kevlar. Or at least, leave the ATMs at home.