# Why don't people do crazy things? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 21, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969 "2010-12-21T17:01:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [December 22, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/41 "2010-12-22T16:49:53Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Can you provide an example of something “crazy” but not “stupid”? Well, me for instance. People should do me. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/42 "2010-12-22T17:20:40Z")
> [@Zulema](#): > > I took crazy to mean different, or out of the ordinary and I’ll agree. I blame the internet and TV. Before we were all so constantly amused we would be bored once in a while and our brains would think of crazy things to do like the man who grew trees into living furniture, or people who built scrap lumber into the best adult fort ever. No one does anything fun or free spirited anymore. Um…have you actually SEEN what people do on the internet and TV? WRT the OP, yes, we did “crazy” things when I was younger. We used to get really drunk until the wee hours of the evening. Hit on girls in bars. Pull stupid practical jokes. Get into trouble. Drive drunk. Do drugs. Get into altercations. Other stuff I care not to mention. At some point though, those “crazy” antics are actually pretty stupid (not to mention illegal or dangerous). And as you get older, there can be real consequences for that sort of behavior with jobs, relationships and the law. Now if you are just talking about harmless, wacky, zany antics, people still do that sort of stuff. Different cities have different clubs or events or activities that are basically variations of “lets be wacky and zany by getting dressed up in outrageous outfits and go to a bar”. That’s not really my thing though. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/43 "2010-12-22T17:36:42Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Whenever I’m in a kitchen store/department I make sure I find the manual kitchen timers. I find great delight in setting as many manual timers as I can to start ringing at odd times, generally within their max times. So it’s possible to have a dozen or more timers start ringing within the next 60 minutes. > > My wife must have contacted the timer manufacturers as I find more and more manual windup timers are shrink-wrapped in that hard plastic crap. I guess I’m not the only one who does this. I used to do this too, and stopped for the same reason. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/44 "2010-12-22T17:40:28Z")
While randomly perusing the course catalog for the spring semester, I came across a class that looked interesting. So, I registered for it. Never mind the fact that I was already registered for 15 credits (5 classes and a lab). Of course, Climate and Weather Systems isn’t even remotely applicable to my intended profession and isn’t required for my degree. But, it looks like it should be fun. I’m not sure 6 classes and a lab will be fun though. What the hell am I thinking? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/45 "2010-12-22T17:40:51Z")
OK, I took your advice. Last week I started a fight with a random stranger. I let him win. I can’t tell you why though. No, really. I can’t tell you why. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/46 "2010-12-22T18:25:58Z")
The OP obviously never takes public transportation if he believes that there aren’t many people doing crazy things out there. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/47 "2010-12-22T18:50:59Z")
I agree with the posters that said, “routine.” People LIKE routine and they like to do things that are familiar and comfortable with them. Newness scares people. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/48 "2010-12-22T19:25:30Z")
> [@Zulema](#): > > Also no one does anything fun in their houses. Everyone’s house has to look like a showroom at all times. When I was a kid people had things out on their kitchen counters. Projects and food containers, toasters, etc. Now everything is put away at all times. People used to have fun family rooms with old furniture you didn’t have to be careful of, games all over, things to do. Now family rooms are perfectly matched showcases of beigeness and electronics. Do you know any human beings who have kids? Because I don’t know a single family with children that’s the way you described. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/49 "2010-12-22T20:17:13Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Well, it hasn’t moved yet. > > I once stood on the left on the escalator at Liverpool Street. Maybe I’m crazy, but this comment put several questions in my head, Since cars in England travel in the left side of the road, I always assumed that on multi-laned roads slower traffic stays left, and faster traffic passes on the right. Is this correct? And is this traffic pattern mirrored in other areas, particularly in pedestrian traffic. Though there aren’t any actual pedestrian traffic laws here, in a broad walkway we tend to stay to the right, pass slower walkers on the left, etc. Also, paired entry/exit doors tend to be arranged so you enter through the right door while oncoming exiting traffic exits through the left (relative to you). I would just expect this to be consistent within a society up and down the line. So the slow riders on escalators in England SHOULD be in the left, on Planet Boyo Jim. Is this a crazy thought, or one reflecting stultifying conformity? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/50 "2010-12-22T20:55:05Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I agree with the posters that said, “routine.” People LIKE routine and they like to do things that are familiar and comfortable with them. Newness scares people. Some people like newness in a good way. A new restaurant or taking a vacation to a new place. Most people don’t like crazy bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/51 "2010-12-22T22:04:27Z")
I rode my motorcycle to work today. The weather was 14 degrees (Fahrenheit). I once went to a store that had a big Feng Shui display. I told the clerk that the display had not been set up correctly, and proceeded to move things for him to put them right with the universe. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/52 "2010-12-22T22:10:00Z")
I don’t do crazy things, because then I’d have to come into this thread to describe them, and frankly that’s more work than I’m willing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Dolly\_Madison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@Dolly\_Madison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dolly_Madison)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/53 "2010-12-22T22:12:53Z")
I don’t do crazy things because I’m lazy, and crazy and lazy are opposites. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/54 "2010-12-22T22:21:23Z")
I quit my office job in Chicago to go be a Peace Corps Volunteer. I have earned the right to be boring, dammit. Let me be boring in peace! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/55 "2010-12-23T10:16:58Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Well, me for instance. People should do me. You’re taken, dude. So long as you are, there is no way I am doing you. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/56 "2010-12-25T23:50:38Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Are they the same thickness? Yes. Every six months or so, I find that my socks have shrunk and lost their comfort and elasticity, so I throw them all away and buy a big pile of new ones in assorted colours, then pair them up in clashing combinations. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/57 "2010-12-26T00:35:55Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Do you know any human beings who have kids? Because I don’t know a single family with children that’s the way you described. I live in the boringest frickin suburban-rural area in the whole world. Everyone I know has kids and they still spend all their time being perfect little Sterpford Parents. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/58 "2010-12-26T02:24:36Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > OK, I took your advice. > > Last week I started a fight with a random stranger. I let him win. > > I can’t tell you why though. No, really. I can’t tell you why. I thought we weren’t supposed to talk about that… ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/59 "2010-12-26T03:31:49Z")
I did. Until 3 months ago, I had a good paying job in Anchorage Alaska, where I’d lived for the previous 40 years. Didn’t I mention it was a GOOD paying job? Okay, so recently, I had an opportunity to move to the lower 48, where most of my family lives, including being only 3 hours from my daughter and granddaughter. With a small bit of research, I snapped at the chance, taking an almost 17k annual hit in pay (not including benefits, that’s just pay), and selling or giving away most of my possessions, moved to a strange place and started a new job where I knew but one person, (the one that got me the job). I have no idea where I am most of the time (thank YOU Jill, my new BFF, my garmin GPS unit). And I am still struggling financially to catch up from the expenses of the move. Oh yeah, did I mention that I somehow managed to quite my job, rent out my condo, deal with an attempted scam related to my trying to rent my condo, sell/give away the proper amount of items, pack and ship the rest (including my vehicle), get an apartment in my new area (within walking distance of the light rail), attend a going away party at work, say goodbye to my friends, and my son (my one remaining relative in Alaska), reconnect with my long lost relatives (most of whom I’ve not seen in 30 years) and too many other things to remember, all in _ **23 days** _? Yup, I’m certifiable. 😃 No, sorry, I have no idea how I did it. None. It’s all a horrible nightmare blur of Diet Rock Stars, no sleep, and many full-on-panic flurries of activities! ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969/60 "2010-12-26T03:39:31Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I wear odd socks on purpose every day. You know that’s a cool new fad nowadays right? 😃 [http://www.littlemissmatched.com/Catalog/all\_womens\_socks](http://www.littlemissmatched.com/Catalog/all_womens_socks) so really, you’re conforming…YYaaaaarrrggghhh! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-do-crazy-things/564969.md?page=4)