greinspace, if being first is his only goal, then he can be first all he wants. It’s no skin off my back what seat he sits in, as long as I get a seat. If he’s doing it just to be first, then Godspeed, Line-Jumping Guy, and may the intrepid spirits of the Apollo 13 crew guide your footsteps to the Bizarro Bus Stop.
If it’s for the purpose of gaining an unfair “advantage,” well, it hasn’t worked so far, and that’s a dick move for which he deserves the karmic smackdown.
I think you’re mischaracterizing my emotional involvement. I’m not angry or frustrated by him, I’m morbidly curious. I need to figure out what he’s trying to accomplish so that I can tell whether or not he is. Right now, all I have to go on is psychosis and misplaced triumph.
He wasn’t at the bus stop this morning (NJTransit’s or his). I think I will begin “Operation Herd The Sheep” the next time I see him.
Wouldn’t life be interesting if we could have a real-life version of the fark.com “Boobies” filter?
For those unfamiliar with it, at Fark there are several filters set up - the obvious one being replacing “fuck” with “fark.” If someone jumps in with the most annoying habit of open threads and types “First Post” those words are replaced with “Boobies” with frequently hilarious results like “is anyone here going to respond to my Boobies?” etc. Furthermore, if someone types those words in the actual post#1 the time-stamp is set in the future (I think 6 hours or so) so the “boobies” post is always at the bottom of the thread.
So my vision for Line-jumping Guy this early morning has him doing his normal act, thinking “I’m getting on the bus First today!” and as soon as he boards the bus, :eek: Boobies! Yep, a pair of shirt-rippers pop up on his chest, and in embarrassment he exist the bus and goes home to call in sick to work, knowing full well he has at least 6 hours before he goes back to normal.
It’s possible he’s mildly autistic. My uncle was fairly autistic, my cousin’s somewhat autistic, and one of the guys who works in my office is mildly autistic.
The guy in our office HAS to be the first to leave at the end of the day. His workday ends at 4:30. At 4:15, he shuts down his computer. At 4:20 he starts to get fidgety. At 4:25 he starts to get the sweats. At 4:28 he can’t stand it anymore, throws his coat on, and bolts out the door.
When I was reading your OP, that’s the first thing that jumped into my head.
And keep us updated on Operation HTS. Think of it as a social experiment for the good of mankind. I’m keenly interested in the results.
Until I read the post right before mine I was entirely ready to give a bunch of cruel ideas on how to mess with the mind of this guy… I’ll just post them with this disclamer that if you suspect him to have a disabilaty please don’t do the following.
Even better, put it in an envelope. Put the envelope in his mailbox. See his reaction when he goes out for the bus the next day.
Get there early, go to where he gets picked up and attempt to wave down the bus. See if he waits with everyone else, goes to where you are and waits, or goes ahead and waits even further down the line. That idea was kinda proposed above, but see if you could get a few other people that look at this guy funny to wait with you, to really mess with him.
Stare at him. All the time. While he’s waiting, while he’s on the bus, on his way off the bus. It probably won’t do anything but make him feel really strange. Again, get everyone to stare at him. See if it changes his behavior.
One day wear running shorts, a t-shirt, sun glasses, and racing numbers. Drink gatorade out of one of those mini-cups with the gatorade logo on the side of it. Make sure you’re first in line at the actual bus stop. Jog down the aisle, panting and covered in sweat (water) and sit next to him. Tell him he was a worthy opponent.
Simply sit next to him on the bus and ask him why.