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Original plate · 02 of 07 · Artwork preserved
✦ A field note on human leech
Human Leech
Attaches to caring people. Takes more than it gives.
Takes your judgment, role, credibility, responsibility, or resources while keeping the benefit.
Recognize
- You do the work while someone else keeps the authority.
- Your effort is called teamwork without a clear agreement.
- Credit and consequences travel in different directions.
Protect
- Define who owns the work, decision, and credit.
- Share only what you freely agree to share.
- Make support visible and accountable.
WORDS TO TRY“I can complete this part. Before I begin, let’s agree who decides, who delivers, and how the contribution is credited.”
A possible response, not a promise of cooperation. A boundary describes your next action.
✦ An ordinary example
The exchange
You repeatedly complete a shared project while another person claims the result and leaves you with the unfinished work.
What repair could look like
Correct the credit, share the decision authority, and agree on the next task before accepting help.
✦ The mirror belongs here, too
Have I made another person’s generosity into their permanent assignment?
Receiving care, being distressed, or disagreeing with an account does not by itself establish this pattern. Look for the specific agreement, repeated conduct, and the response to a reasonable limit.
Possible Playbook connections
These are examples of overlapping moves, not predictions about a person.