When a cop pulls you over and asks what you’re up to, he isn’t interested in the goings-on of your day. He’s asking you, “Can you tell me something I can use to hurt you?”
When a hiring manager asks about a gap in your resume or why you left your last job, she isn’t chatting out of curiosity. She’s looking for a reason not to hire you.
Even when your doctor asks you questions about your thoughts of self-harming, they aren’t necessarily really asking you about this for your own benefit because sometimes they’re asking, “Would you like to be abducted and forcibly restrained for a minimum of a few days?”
The difference here is power. Power changes things because what’s associated is the threat of violence, direct or indirect. A guy holding a gun asking, “That’s a nice phone. Can I see it?” is not paying a compliment or making a request but giving a pretty direct threat while mugging you.
It’s not even autism; it’s just understanding realistic social dynamics.
Your landlord is not your friend. They don’t have to live up to their handshake agreements and verbal contracts. You should not be revealing information to them that they can use to hurt you, even if you think they won’t.
Snitching is not telling the truth, and covering for someone else by deceit is not lying (better to shut the fuck up, though). Because power transmutes social relations with the magic of violence, implied and direct.
