There are various reasons a pc does not read on a meter. Amongst these are:

1) ARC broken (where only the ARC break’s bypassed charge will read)

2) Antipathy to meter

3) Antipathy to auditor

4) Antipathy to something in the session environment

5) Suppress button out (but Suppress itself will read)

6) Invalidate button out (but Invalidate will read)

7) Meter somewhere not connected to pc

8) Meter battery flat

9) Auditor on the wrong track (probably the commonest source of a dead looking meter that won’t RR or fall hard)

10) Meter locked up on a wrong goal (happens mostly on running items in a wrong goal)

11) Overlisting a goal or item list

12) Getting into a GPM in an earlier series.

But of all the reasons the one least suspected is (13) pc flinch.

After a pc has been knocked around with creaks or pain by actual GPMs, the pc decides a lot of things like “go easy on it” and “just sit here” and “keep away from it” and even “I can’t take it.” And bang, no checkout reads.

“Are you flinching” is a question that will RR on a flat meter if the pc is. Don’t overuse it. Usually you’re just on a wrong track.

You may even waste time with a new Prepcheck on the meter only to find your first Prepcheck on it is flat. The truth is, the pc is rabbiting.

Don’t blame the pc too much. The pain can be horrible from GPMs.

But remember this — the only things that turn on pain are:

(a) Invalidating or suppressing a right goal. A wrong goal can have its but tons out a mile and just make the pc a little dizzy. Only a right goal can make the pc hurt or turn on a chronic-looking somatic.

(b) A right goal in the wrong series, which is to say a skip of GPMs.

Only (a) and (b) can make the pc hurt.

So if the pc hurts ask (a) or (b). If it’s (a) get the Suppress, Invalidate buttons in fast. If (b) get the right goal series, or find what’s skipped.

(a) and (b) can be in combination.

And then get off any of the considerations a pc may have had about not going near GPMs and you’ll avoid future flinch.

The Invalidation read of a GPM can be dated and the invalidated GPM can be looked up or otherwise relocated. Only right goals handled wrong hurt and only this makes a pc flinch.

By the way, if the pain of a suppressed or invalidated GPM doesn’t vanish when the buttons are put in, then there’s another right goal suppressed or invalidated also! Or maybe more!

A pc who is consistently flinching needs the subjects of goals, etc., cleaned up.