Doing Weird Things in Public

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Hi Everyone!

Hey, let’s get a little silly for a moment (or two).

People (in my experience anyway) tend to speak in a higher-pitched voice than they do normally (I guess you could call it a high falsetto), when talking to babies and cute, fuzzy little animals. (Heck, I do it all the time!)
Can you imagine talking to your “average” person or persons that way? I mean, away from the comfort of your own home, in public amongst strangers!

I recall when, many, many years ago (when I was in the USAF working in Base Supply), I was working in the main warehouse, and I saw a couple of guys I knew (let’s just say they were acquaintances)—(they worked for Pickup and Delivery), and as they were coming in from making a delivery somewhere on base, I started singing (in a high falsetto)…

“We’re going to the circus!,
We’re going to the circus!!,
We’re going to the circus yes we are!!!”
---- Repeat song as needed!!—

Ya’ know, some people are so touchy!!!
“You some kinda’ nut or sumthin’ ???”, they exclaimed.
(Why be normal???)

I remember one time last year, I was waiting with my parents in a pharmacy waiting room in one of our local hospitals (they were getting some prescriptions filled).
After I picked up the paper slip with their number on it, I sat down next to them.
I turned to them and I said in kind of a happy, excited voice (not in a high falsetto), “I know John Smith!!!”
I was sitting with my parents to my left, and an older woman I didn’t notice (when I first sat down) was sitting to my right.

When I first sat down and said to them “I know John Smith!!!”, my mom said that the lady sitting next to me turned her head and looked at me like I was some kind of nut (well, we won’t go into that right now!)

Anyhoo, I paused for a few seconds, and again I told them (in kind of a happy, excited voice), “I know John Smith!!!”

I guess she looked at me once more, then she quietly (an in some haste), got up from her chair and went to the opposite side of the waiting room.

(So much for making a good first impression!!!)

Well, I guess what I’d like to know from my fellow Dopers is if any of you like to act a little weird in public? (That is, without being intoxicated!!)

Has something like this ever been discussed on the Straight Dope before???

2

I’ve done the classic elevator freak out: enter, but remain facing the rear of the car. Everyone else in the car who has done the normal thing (rotated 180 degrees, begin staring at numbers) will get VERY uncomfortable with this maneuver.

3

[Hi, Jack!]
Would someone mind explaining this “I know John Smith” meme to me? I’ve seen it mentioned twice in the last week here without any context (the other in the SDMB Bumper Sticker thread), but in a manner that suggests it’s a well-known meme of some amusement. I seem to have been left out of the loop on this one.
[/Bye, Jack!]

4

t’other day i bumbled into an elevator, only barely noticing in time to keep the doors open, that a quite exceptionally well-dressed young woman of the beautiful kind, was hurrying toward said lift.

as she entered the elevator, she said to me, in a most confident manner, “four, please.”

“yes,” i replied, “i’m going to the fourth floor as well. the button is beside you, above the one for the third floor.”

(she was between myself and the control panel at this point.)

she stared blankly at me as the doors closed.

so now this hot woman is glaring at me, waiting for me to move behind her & press a button that is literally an inch from her elbow.

and i do nothing. for a full minute & half, i do nothing but stare at the elevator door.

then, as if it just hit me that moment, i announced, “i’m going to the fourth floor. i like it on that floor. it’s a fun floor.”

she continued to stare at me. i kept moving my eyes back & forth from her face to the elevator control panel (that was like six inches from her, and three feet from me.)

after what felt like eleventy-nine minutes, but was probably only two… i curled up in the corner of the elevator and pretended to cry. she finally sighed, then pressed button 4.

when we got to the fourth floor, i stopped pretending to cry, looked up at her as she walked (hurriedly) out of the box, and said, “thank you so much. i can never figure out how to work these things.”

she laughed really hard, which i appreciated a lot. especially since i was really intending to ride up to the 27th floor.

5

This happened at least 25 years ago and I got the story second hand, but it cracks me up. My two youngest sisters and a boy from our neighborhood were a mall that was 2 stories and had escalators in a center court.

My sisters, who were in high school at the time, started going up, while Neighbor Boy stood at the bottom, unbeknownst to the girls. When they were about halfway up, the boy called out loudly “Stop that girl - she stole my heart!!”

I wish I could have seen the reaction around them…

6

John Smith is considered a “common” name by many people, , and exclaiming that “I know John Smith!!!”, could imply that you’ve been absolutely thrilled at meeting someone who could be almost anybody (or nobody)!!

7

re: Elevators

One of the buildings in our facility only has two floors. Occasionally when I get on with someone that looks like they might have a sense of humor, I’ll wait until they have pushed the button and the door is closing before anouncing, “Two please.” As if there were any other choice.

8

Me? Acting weird in public? Never.

walks off again, continuing conversation with self

9

A stranger was in an elevator and I was outside the elevator fumbling with some stuff but trying to make my way in. We were the only two peple around. I found this conversation amusing:

ME: (Politely) Can you hold the door for a second, please? (As I shuffled my way in).

HIM: Only if you promise not to fart.

ME: (Chuckling) I promise.

[Doors close, elevator moves down a few floors]

ME: I could fart right now and there’s not much you could do about it.

HIM: It was a gentlemen’s agreement. I trust you’ll uphold it.