SC: Creepy Guy

[elSicomoro]

Once you start riding a certain route (bus, train, or subway) for a while, you tend to become more familiar with the people around you. Although sometimes, it's probably best that you DON'T know them.

Periodically, there is this guy that gets on the route 1 at Roosevelt Blvd. and Grant Ave. on the way home (this is relatively close to the end of the route...maybe a mile or two from my apartment). He looks unassuming...dresses in a suit, and wears a hat and overcoat. But of course, looks can be deceiving.

I'm no expert here, but the man appears to have Tourette's. Although, it's not like the "typical" Tourette's case (the person that yells cuss words at random...Rho used to deal with one of those at her old dialysis center). Maybe it's autism or a form of schizophrenia...or maybe just eccentricity. Basically, the guy will sit there and just start talking really loud, about something mundane. For example, the mantra last night was "Captain Picard was never a man! Captain Kirk was a man! There was never a time in which he was not a man!" And some other things in that vein...

I've dealt with plenty of strange folks in my day (after all, I hang out here and take public transit), but to be honest, this guy is kind of scary. Particularly because he rides to the end of the route, like I do. At the end of the line, the bus makes a left hand turn onto Red Lion Rd. from Academy Rd. and makes its last stop across from the police station. That area is a primarily-wooded area, and you have to walk a hundred feet or so over to the stoplight at Academy Road to cross back into civilization. One of these days, I'm afraid this guy is going to come up behind me and kill me or something. I just make sure to walk away from the bus quickly to cross Academy Rd.

Thank God he doesn't take the bus every day...maybe once a week. And he keeps to himself for the most part, so I can't really say much. But you never know...

[perth]

if you find him threatening, you should preemptively kick his ass.

~james

[elSicomoro]

Yeah, while saying something like, "Jim Kirk was a pussy! He HAD a pussy! There was never a time in which he did not have a pussy!"

[Undertoad]

Wolf, you on this thread?

Howard Stern had a Tourette's guy on a couple years back. This guy wouldn't swear, he would BARK.

[elSicomoro]

My experience with Tourette's folks is that the words/actions are spasm-like...they just burst out.

This guy's words were said slowly, deliberately, and he pronounced them fully. That's why I'm wondering if it was maybe a version of schizophrenia, or just another strange-yet-relatively-normal SEPTA rider.

[juju]

Speaking of Tourette's, I find that I really quite enjoy shouting obsene cusswords for no reason at all. It just feels really good, even if there's no one in the house but yourself. It's very rewarding. Although I can only do it safely in my home, and I don't do it uncontrollably.

I think my wife has picked up the habit. Just tonight, she's periodically opened the door and shouted, "You're a bitch! You're a dirty little bitch! Fuck you!", then closed the door again. All in good fun, of course. :) We entertain ourselves in strange ways.

[slang]

(slang is lying comfortably on the doc's couch relaxing, breathing deeply)

I have a little quirk. I don't think there is a name for it but everytime I see or hear Bill Clinton, I involuntarily shout "MOTHER FUCKER"!! That in itself is bad enough, but then my finger twitches too!........................................(whispers quietly)...Am I crazy?

[wolf]

about the crazy guy on the bus ... without eyeballing him myself, I'd say Syc's guess about him being schizophrenic is probably correct (maybe bipolar with psychotic features if he keeps himself put together really well). He's likely just got a more interesting set of voices than many mentally ill clients. Delusions/voices related to a TV show (even one as wonderful as Star Trek) are VERY rare. It's usually more mundane stuff, like my family has been replaced by exact duplicates which are actually demons. I do have one guy we see coupla times a year who has Star Trek delusions, but they really go off into deep space and time travel and 9/11 and black helicopters ... not just Capt. Kirk is a man stuff.

I wouldn't be overly worried about him. He's interacting with his internal world for the most part, not the external one. The great majority of mentally ill people are nonviolent, and actually engage in violence at a lesser rate than the general population.

I'd worry more about the guy in the down jacket and the nikes who's seeming to pay WAY to much attention to his surroundings.

[wolf]

Originally posted by slang
(whispers quietly)...Am I crazy?

I think that you have spent too many years repressing your anger. I would, however, strongly recommend that you spend as little time as possible in hotbeds of liberalism ... no trips to Massachussetts, Maryland, or the People's Demokratic Republik of New Jersey. Try to forget that there is such a place as California. I can give you a referral to a hypnotist if you need additional help on that one ...

[99 44/100% pure]

Originally posted by slang
. . . everytime I see or hear Bill Clinton, I involuntarily shout "MOTHER FUCKER"!! ...Am I crazy?

Of course you're not crazy, as you are merely stating the obvious. Clinton, by all objective standards, DID, in fact, fuck many a mother. Your outbursts are not delusional, but do indicate poor impulse control. I would avoid State Dinners and other formal affairs at which Secret Service agents are present, and at which you may have trouble resisting the urge to blurt the obvious.

[slang]

Originally posted by wolf
great majority of mentally ill people are nonviolent, and actually engage in violence at a lesser rate than the general population.

But the extremely small number of dangerous mentally ill people kill/damage more than enough to bring their statistical average way up in comparison to the general population.

So, Sycamore, what this means is, carry a hammer on the bus with you just in case this nutjob* snaps like a rubberband. Just make sure it's not an assault hammer, or if it is, at least a post ban for political correctness.

* for those that are "shocked and appalled" by this term, insert the phrase mentally ill, or mentally handi-capable.

[warch]

I enjoyed the book "Motherless Brooklyn". The main character is a guy with Tourettes- lots of ticks not just verbal. The author Jonathan Letham does an cool job describing the guy's inner experience- his repetitive loops. I bet you'd like it Syc. Lots of lush food references, cars, and an obsessive relationship involving a cell phone. I also think I heard its gonna be a movie soon.

Hey I should check if Raddick has a review of it on Amazon....mine is lacking...

[elSicomoro]

Hey, I freely admit my neuroses...do you?

[MaggieL]

Originally posted by sycamore
For example, the mantra last night was "Captain Picard was never a man! Captain Kirk was a man! There was never a time in which he was not a man!"

What about the time he ended up in Janice Lester's body in Turnabout Intruder? While she took over his body and did a poor burlesque of a raging queen?

This guy definately is a nutcase. Forget the hammer, get yourself a nice used .38 revolver or something.

[slang]

Originally posted by MaggieL
This guy definately is a nutcase. Forget the hammer, get yourself a nice used .38 revolver or something.

I suggested the hammer over a handgun because of the remote possibility that I may be on the same bus he is someday, and his confession that he can't shoot to save his ass in June. Accidently capping the driver doesnt help any of us.

So get yourself a rubber gun there mister.