Only on my way home did I realize what had happened:
a famous scientific experiment puts rats in a cage and then shocks them repeatedly. They are removed from the cage. Other, calm rats from another, happier room get shoved into the BAD cage - and immediately freak out -- even WITHOUT the electricity. The very scent of the other rats' fear and panic sends them into Survival Mode.
I think maybe that's what happened to me -- and to the other folks, and then we passed it on. Worth a study.
You tale of "sensing" emotions left behind by others is not unique.
Walking through the grounds of Dachau one can sense the "dread and doom".
Years ago, when crossing the checkpoint from East to West Berlin, one would swear you could "smell" freedom.
Woody had a very difficult time in the catacombs under St. Paul's cathedral because he "sensed Dead People" (A man before his time). If I ever get him to Malta, we will probably have to skip their fascinating catacombs - there you can "see dead people" - lots, and lots of them - laid out on row after row of shelves.
Malta also has a fascinating "pit" (
Hypogeum) which goes deep into the rock where one discovers a stone age temple hollowed into what was presumably then a cave. The walls are covered with stone age art. Standing in that deep dank room, one could sense "antiquity". (It was a dark and dreary night when first into the pit we descended.....)
der Brucer (with unfond memories of having a HS paper returned with his delighful phrase "dark, deep, dungeon" circled in red with the words "Pure Trite" written above.)
Maltese Stone Age Sculpter anticipating the Super Bowl:
