Honestly, I miss the days when you saw someone talking to themselves on the street, you thought they were crazy.
Now, I just assume they’re bluetooth douchebags. And sadly, I’m usually right. Same with cab drivers, who never talk to you (or leave you in silence) because they’re always on the phone yammering away with someone else.
I talk to myself. I try to be aware of my surroundings but sometimes I’m sure I fail. I have a pretty decent stammer, particularly in chit chatty conversation. I read that many people with stammers talk to themselves because it’s like practice for the real thing. I believe that’s true, I very often practice simple conversations so that I already have an answer that I have verbalized previous.
First approximation in mental illness, but I’m willing to be corrected.
Heh sorry I was just adopting the term from this thread.
Probably schizophrenic. Not always. I watch to see signs and listen. Usually the ones i hear ,see are on the bus.
Funny this subject should come up now. I recently returned from four days in Seattle and that city seems to be full of them. At least compared to other cities.
Every day while walking around, we ran into four, five, or six of them. I doubt they were the same ones, but…
Anyways, we found them harmless and somewhat entertaining.
Interesting. I am also a stutterer, although it’s mild and I’m fairly good at hiding it. I do practice when I have a meeting coming up, or when I know a difficult conversation is in the offing.
But mainly it’s when I have too many things to keep track of, and I’m trying to keep them all in the front of my mind, so that none gets buried and forgotten.
An old friend of mine (since departed) lived in Chicago, he said that when taking the subway late at night or walking through rough neighbourhoods he’d mutter to himself. He had the theory acting a bit crazy kept away muggers. That isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind if I see a more obvious ASL, but I’ve never felt at risk in the presence of one.
Yeah, there’s a difference between “talking to yourself” in the sense of repeating your shopping list, or trying to think out a solution to a difficult problem, and literally having a conversation with yourself, or someone else in your own head.
In the first case, if I saw the same person doing it a lot, I’d probably think “nutty professor type”, and in the second, I’d think 'whackadoodle that I should probably steer clear of".
I’d think I live in Portland, Oregon, and give the person a wide berth.