What's Up With My Coworker Constantly On The Move

In My Humble Opinion
1

I work a part time job as an elevator operator. I have a coworker who is a doorman. He’s a nice kid but he seems “off,” in the sense that he seems to be constantly on the move. I mean literally.

He never stands still, he is always moving or polishing something. He will run to empty the trash, if one person throws a tissue in it. He fidgets and he taps his foots all the time.

That said, he does an excellent job and everyone, the members of the club and the manager think he’s great.

I talk to him and he says, he just can’t seem to sit still. Last week, he comes in with a big cup of coffee (he also smokes) and says, “Yeah I couldn’t sleep last night, now I’m wiped out.”

The best way to describe it is, I’ve seen smokers who are overdue for a smoke and they get really fidgety and nervous, while they’re waiting to have that smoke. Then when they go to have the smoke, they come back all calm.

He also will pause when he talks. The best way to describe this is, I knew someone else from France, and while they spoke English well. every so often, all of a sudden, you can see them visualize and you can see the wheels in their head as if they’re suddenly translating to think of the English words.

Those two things are what he reminds me of.

We were gabbing at lunch and he told me at school they thought he had some kind of attention disorder, but he said, he doesn’t and that he doesn’t like to take any drugs, so he wouldn’t take anythign even if he had it.

I don’t know if this means he refused to get tested or that he was tested and it came back negative.

I have a mother with mental problems so I know manic behaviour and he doesn’t fit this. His thoughts are clear and while hyper he’s he finishes thoughts and makes clear sense. He just seems to be on the move all the time.

He’s 23 years old and works part time as a door man on weekends mostly, while going to college.

He’s on break now, so I thought he’d slow down, but no.

I know it’s not my business but I thought I’d ask if anyone here had similar experiences with people they knew

2

Is he skinny? I’d just think he’s someone with a really high metabolism…like a hummingbird or mouse. People with higher metabolisms feel compelled to “burn” off any excess energy they consume. These are the people who are not happy unless they are competing in marathons and things.

Then there are those of us who think those people are nuts, lol.

This is just my highly subjective thinking on the topic. And riffing off of Gary Taubes.

3

He might be worried about his job performance.

4

I’ve seen this sort of thing before. A fellow I knew a couple of years ago who literally could not sit still. He rocked back and forth constantly, for hours at a time, until he was presumably exhausted from all the movement. He’d rest for a few minutes then start in again. I’m wondering if this is some sort of physical ailment.

5

Currently, we have a guy like that at work. Unfortunately, he’s not putting that energy to productive use. I mean, your guy sounds like a fidget but he does stuff like empty the garbage and clean things, which our guy doesn’t.

There are some people who just can’t sit still. The heavy caffeine use might be an unconscious attempt to self-medicate some sort of attention disorder (stimulants can sometimes be an effective treatment for ADD). As long as there aren’t any negatives (handwashing until his palms bleed, etc.) and he’s doing a good job I wouldn’t worry about it.

6

Hes got a decent job, and everyone seems to think highly of him. Just because you see him as odd does not make him dysfunctional. That said, there are alot of undiagnosed low grade psych issues walking the street, you may be looking at one of them. If he is perfectly functional in society, its probably not worth worrying about. The ones you need to woryy about are the ones who cannot.

7

I worked with a woman who due to thyroid problems had an insanely high metabolism and just couldn’t stay still. She would take 6-8 aspirin at a time, eat all the time and was always on the move. She was skinny as a rail and would lose weight if she didn’t eat every couple hours.

8

I have been that person, it was caused by being bored with the job.

9

I have a friend like that. She doesn’t even realize she is doing it. When we sit together at an inservice at work or in a restaurant, the table jiggles because she taps her foot the entire time. It’s not as noticeable in a restaurant because the tables are heavier, but the cheaper, plastic tables at school just shake. She just can’t be still. She is on the thin side, and can eat like a horse.

10

At first I thought this was a zombie thread from 1955.
mmm

11

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a certainly a possibility. He also sounds manic (maybe Bipolar Disorder). This would explain difficulty sleeping. Coffee plus cigarettes are most certainly making him more fidgety. Other stimulants (cocaine, amphetamines, speed, etc…) may play a role too.

If he is not sleeping and then drinking coffee and smoking, his nervous system would certainly be very active. I wonder if he is drinking Redbull at night or 5-Hour energy drink…

12

at the risk of a hijack, can you tell us more about how this came to be in today’s day and age?

13

I am and have been that person. It is somewhat abnormal meaning atypical but I think it is a good thing overall. I have a high responsibility professional job but I complete almost all of my normal tasks within 30 minutes of walking in the door because I am so fast and efficient at at and I made it that way over time. The rest of the time I just sit bored until an emergency comes up. I am really good at high pressure situations because everything is like that to me. It doesn’t matter if it is a minor issue or something big like everything failing all at once through a catastrophe. It is all the same to me and I just work through it the same way I do everything whereas the supposedly calm people fall apart.

Some people are just the Jack Russell Terriers of the human world. There really isn’t any other explanation needed.

14

The ideal solution would be for the two of you to switch jobs.

15

He’s underemployed (just a part time job while he’s in college, it sounds like?), and maybe hyperactive or insomniac or athletic or just plain Type-A. All those stimulants don’t necessarily result in fidgetiness, though. I can smoke a pack of cigs and chug caffeine nonstop all day on a weekend and sit around like a slug playing computer games without any feeling of excess energy (no toe-tapping or nervous cleaning).

Or maybe he’s a meth-head :stuck_out_tongue:

16

See my previous thread

17

Thanks for the answers, I wasn’t really worried, just curious.

The reason I asked is one night he was driving the front desk manager nuts. He was like, sit still and stop pacing. So I said, I can watch the elevator and the door till the function lets out. Why doesn’t he go play pool. So I took him up to the 7th floor and by the time I got my elevator back down, he was on the ground floor.

He looks at me and says “That was boring, I’ll just talk to you.”

He must’ve flown down those steps to beat the elevator.

He says he hates drugs and because he does help with valet they get drug tested once every other month. (All valet workers do, plus random). He is a typical college kid, as I know he does drink. He is always asking me to go for a drink and complains he spends too much money on beer. He also lives with four other guys. Typical college 23 year old male.

I’m 32 and working part time jobs, so I am not going to waste money on going out for a beer.

The real curious part, as I said, was when he talks, every once in awhile, he’ll just slow down and pause, and the only time I’ve ever seen anyone do this, is when I speak to someone who doesn’t have English as a first language. You talk to them and you can see they’re talking fine, then they slow down, and you can see the wheels turning in their head, and you can tell they’re translating.

18

In my opinion the person is on meth. Of course he tells you he cannot stand drugs, to throw you off track. I have been around people that are on it, and I have a feeling this guy has a meth habit!

19

thanks!

20

I know someone like this. One summer, more or less to work off excess energy, he added a story to his house.