Daily Prompt: Fight or Flight

Last Updated on September 29, 2023

“Write about your strongest memory of heart-pounding, belly-twisting nervousness: what caused the adrenaline? Was it justified? How did you respond?” -The Daily Post

In my Personality Psychology class, my professor was doing an in-class demonstration showing how Introverts and Extroverts differ in reactivity to simple stimuli. She had two Q-tips: one in each hand. Both were hanging balanced horizontally from a string.

She asked for an extroverted volunteer. The girl to my left raised her hand. Then she asked for an introverted volunteer. I was hesitant. I really wanted to help with the demonstration but my heart was pounding a mile a minute and I could feel myself starting to get shaky. Recognizing that this was a now-or-never decision, I threw my arm up in the air.

She picked me.

Immediately regretting my decision, I had a mini-anxiety attack as I walked to the front of the lecture hall. Facing the extrovert as I stood off to the side, she said, “Stick out your tongue. I am going to hold the end of this Q-tip on your tongue for 30 seconds,” and so they did. Then she said, “Add three drops of lemon to your tongue.” The girl added 3 drops of lemon juice drop-by-drop. Then she held the other end of the Q-tip on her tongue for another 30 seconds. When she was done, she held up the hanging Q-tip to the class.

It was balanced.

Then she turned to me and said, “Ok, your turn.” I’m pretty sure my face was bright red before I even did anything. I stuck out my tongue and when I touched the Q-tip, it started spinning super fast instead of sticking to my tongue. Everyone laughed.

We eventually managed to get it to stay. Then she told me to add 3 drops of lemon and I pretty much squirted the entire bottle of lemon juice down my throat and began gagging in front of my entire class because I couldn’t hold the bottle steady.

Then she held the Q-tip on my tongue for another 30 seconds.

When she held it up, mine was COMPLETELY off balance. The side after lemon exposure was drooping straight down towards the floor.

My body was in overdrive and our class was able to measure it. xO

3 Comments

    1. Extroverts will have a balanced Q-tip even after the drops of lemon were added to their mouth. Introverts start salivating like crazy from simple stimuli (Lol) so my Q-tip was very off balance…. AND THE WHOLE CLASS GOT TO SEE IT >.< hahahaha I'm laughing but I'm also strangely embarrassed by it.

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