Happiness Is BS - The Bell Ringer

Quasimodo Has a Hunch about You

- Gregg Sanderson

Tintinnabulation: (tin’ti-nab’ya-lay’shan) n. The ringing or sounding of bells.

Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, is an ugly son-of-a-gun who rings the bell. He’s gentle at heart and means well, but every chance he gets he’ll ring that doggoned bell. The tintinnabulation is maddening!

He’s like some of the people in your life who “ring your bell.” They mean well but have a way about them that sets you off every time they pull on the rope.

Who is this Quasimodo character, anyhow? It could be anybody and everybody in your life or out of it, living or dead. In this analogy he shows you how your emotions work.

Usually those closest to you make the bell ring loudest because they know just where to grab the rope. Spouses and ex-spouses are especially astute. Nobody knows how to do it quite like those significant others.

That’s why we call ‘em “significant.”

Family members are good at it too, even parents who have passed on. Many people spend lifetimes in anxiety over their ability to please a dead parent.

Children play the Bell ringer role as well. The ropes on the bells are your vulnerability and those kids know where every one is hanging. It seems they pull on them at the most inopportune times.

Then there are the others at work or school who do things in a way that annoys the daylights out of you. One has a whiney voice resembling the union of blackboard and fingernails. Another has curious personal habits. Some are so protective of their work they sabotage yours. People who deal with the public can tell you horror stories about the Quasimodos they meet.