# Did this mark make me sound like a serial killer or do I just have Asperger's? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972 "2010-03-10T14:59:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/21 "2010-03-10T21:56:01Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > I’ve repeated this phrase over and over to myself dozens of times with as many different inflections…I can’t think of a way to make it sound scary. Funny… I can’t think of a way to make it not sound creepy. Reminds me of the “Dopplegangerland” episode of Buffy, where Cordelia is talking to a vampire, who is staring hungrily at her neck. She notices the stare, and asks if she has something on her neck, to which the vamp replies, “not yet”. ---
**Author:** ![toodlepip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@toodlepip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toodlepip)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/22 "2010-03-10T22:12:52Z")
I would find it funny, regardless of how it was said. Anyway, it sounds like she was doing a passive-aggressive “ **You’re** in **my** way”, and got a lot less than she bargained for. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/23 "2010-03-10T22:31:16Z")
What is your reply to “Can I ask you a question?” ---
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/24 "2010-03-10T23:09:59Z")
Favorite joke when I was a kid. Q: Have you lived here all your life? A: Not yet. I would have laughed at your answer. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/25 "2010-03-11T01:19:03Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Am I the only one who thinks it’s funny either way? I actually think it’s funnier if he’s glaring, and saying it in a monotone. I think so too. I’m also starting to think you’re my evil twin or something. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/26 "2010-03-11T01:20:45Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > What is your reply to “Can I ask you a question?” Jesus, I know someone who _always_ prefaces a question, any question, with this. I say, “You just did.” ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/27 "2010-03-11T04:00:41Z")
Card etiquette. When picking out a card the one who is there first gets to remain there until they pick a card. She was being pushy to say, 'Am I in your way?. She could have said, “excuse me” but that would still be pushy. I just wait until the person has made a selection or moved away to start looking at the cards. I may be wrong but it’s annoying to have someone looking over your shoulder when trying to pick out a card. I would have ignored her. You don’t sound like a serial killer at all. She put you on the spot! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/28 "2010-03-11T04:02:50Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > Card etiquette. When picking out a card the one who is there first gets to remain there until they pick a card. She was being pushy to say, 'Am I in your way?. She could have said, “excuse me” but that would still be pushy. I just wait until the person has made a selection or moved away to start looking at the cards. I may be wrong but it’s annoying to have someone looking over your shoulder when trying to pick out a card. There’s _card etiquette_\*? :eek: Are there etiquette rules for shopping in the scrapbooking section of Michaels, too? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/29 "2010-03-11T04:56:43Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > There’s _card etiquette_\*? :eek: Are there etiquette rules for shopping in the scrapbooking section of Michaels, too? It’s not so much a set of rules as it is what you generally observe if you watch people in the card isle. Occasionally you’ll see a hasty shopper who will say something like “I’m sorry, but I really need that card. I’m really in a hurry. Do you mind?” But that is not the norm. Plus, if someone is close enough to be looking over your shoulder, then they are already violating your personal space–something that actually does apply in all situations. There’s really no way to ask permission to do it. You either wait your turn, or say something like the above to give the person a chance to move to where they would be comfortable. As for what happened here: I think the lady went ahead and violated what appeared to be the OP’s personal space bubble, but didn’t realize it until after the fact. She was saying “Am I in your way?” to acknowledge her mistake. The response, being different than usual and delivered without the characteristic acknowledging smile, made her think she had offended, and she made a hasty retreat to keep from offending further. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/30 "2010-03-11T06:15:41Z")
> [@Vernon\_Vernons](#): > > I was shopping at the grocery store the other day, and it was pretty crowded. I was browsing a section of merchandise of which there were a billion and one varieties of the thing I was after, and I was scrutinizing them. A woman was very close by doing the same thing, and she realized that she was about to move into my field of vision. She was still about six inches from doing so. She asked, “Oh, am I in your way?” and I replied, in far-too-literal-to-sound-sane manner, “Not yet.” She looked at me like she was about to throw up and quickly made an exit. > > If you were on the receiving end of this comment, would you think it was bizarre? (emphasis mine) :eek: That’s what you would call creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/31 "2010-03-11T18:48:19Z")
Yes, there’s card etiquette - it’s similar to clothes rack shopping etiquette. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/32 "2010-03-11T19:04:49Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Funny… I can’t think of a way to make it not sound creepy. Hm…maybe _that’s_ why I have no friends. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/33 "2010-03-11T19:12:38Z")
Well, Asperger’s and being a serial killer aren’t mutually exclusive. 😉 When I got to your response, I laughed. Not sure what I would’ve done in person, it probably would have depended on your tone more than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972/34 "2010-03-11T20:15:42Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I would think you were hitting on me. > :rolleyes: At which point the proper way to respond would have been " Nope, view is getting better by the second". [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-mark-make-me-sound-like-a-serial-killer-or-do-i-just-have-aspergers/531972.md?page=1)