Nichol_storm
06-21-2003, 02:05 AM
My apologies to the Mods if this is the wrong forum; I first considered IMHO but I'd like a factual answer if there is one, so I thought I'd post it here.
While at college I met a young man we'll call Chad; he was a friend-of-a-friend. C was rather exuberantly friendly, but it didn't take long for him to become an extreme wear on my nerves and those of others. The main problem was that Chad, despite being a twentysomething man, acted like a three-year-old.
It was bizarre. It was as though when his body aged his mind remained frozen at about three. He was obviously intelligent enough academically, but had simply missed the socialization train or something. He would do things that young men are just not supposed to do -- ever been talking to someone, and someone else you know walks in, so you interrupt your conversation for just a minute to exchange pleasantries with the other person? Normally, your first companion will sit quietly or even say hello to the newcomer, but not Chad. Instead of waiting for the conversation to resume, he would start chanting your name louder and louder until you had to cease speaking to the other person to return your attention to him. Any regular person would understand that this is not appropriate behavior after about age three, but Chad simply didn't comprehend this.
He acted inappropriately towards women, especially when it came to physical expressions of affection. Chad would just hang all over you in a manner that made me and all of my female friends very uncomfortable, and even when we made it clear that we did not appreciate this he would still attempt to continue this behavior. I've seen girls just lose their cool and snap at him angrily, especially when he came up behind them and tried hugging them suddenly. It's not very pleasant to be minding your own business and suddenly discover two big burly arms wrapping around your frame without any warning at all. After I reported him to the authorities, Chad received a warning and backed off in his attentions towards me, but I still saw him acting in much the same manner towards other women. It got to the point where I and my friends would avoid him when possible and I became downright surly whenever he would approach me.
Part of Chad's problem was in his unpredictability -- I never knew if he would be laughing, whining, or seething with rage. I knew lots of young men on campus, and none behaved like he did. He genuinely did act like a three-year-old lost in a twenty-year-old's body. Is there a name for this condition? When someone's chronological age does not jive with their level of maturity? Or was Chad just weird? I'd really like to know.
While at college I met a young man we'll call Chad; he was a friend-of-a-friend. C was rather exuberantly friendly, but it didn't take long for him to become an extreme wear on my nerves and those of others. The main problem was that Chad, despite being a twentysomething man, acted like a three-year-old.
It was bizarre. It was as though when his body aged his mind remained frozen at about three. He was obviously intelligent enough academically, but had simply missed the socialization train or something. He would do things that young men are just not supposed to do -- ever been talking to someone, and someone else you know walks in, so you interrupt your conversation for just a minute to exchange pleasantries with the other person? Normally, your first companion will sit quietly or even say hello to the newcomer, but not Chad. Instead of waiting for the conversation to resume, he would start chanting your name louder and louder until you had to cease speaking to the other person to return your attention to him. Any regular person would understand that this is not appropriate behavior after about age three, but Chad simply didn't comprehend this.
He acted inappropriately towards women, especially when it came to physical expressions of affection. Chad would just hang all over you in a manner that made me and all of my female friends very uncomfortable, and even when we made it clear that we did not appreciate this he would still attempt to continue this behavior. I've seen girls just lose their cool and snap at him angrily, especially when he came up behind them and tried hugging them suddenly. It's not very pleasant to be minding your own business and suddenly discover two big burly arms wrapping around your frame without any warning at all. After I reported him to the authorities, Chad received a warning and backed off in his attentions towards me, but I still saw him acting in much the same manner towards other women. It got to the point where I and my friends would avoid him when possible and I became downright surly whenever he would approach me.
Part of Chad's problem was in his unpredictability -- I never knew if he would be laughing, whining, or seething with rage. I knew lots of young men on campus, and none behaved like he did. He genuinely did act like a three-year-old lost in a twenty-year-old's body. Is there a name for this condition? When someone's chronological age does not jive with their level of maturity? Or was Chad just weird? I'd really like to know.