Please assure me that I'm not the only one. This morning I ran to the grocery, and while I was walking up to the check-out a song began to play. It was Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." Now, in my opinion this is a strange song to have playing in the grocery, so maybe I can use this as an excuse. As the song played I had this vision of myself bursting into a complex dance routine and singing along. Yep, with my arms full of paper towels and with my yoga pants on - right there in the middle of the aisle. I was sooo tempted to do it just to see the looks on people's faces.
I also have to resist the temptation to make loud noises during silences when I attend such things as book readings, etc. I always have this urge to yell something like, "Blleeaappp" while the speaker is doing their thing. This makes no sense to me, as I'm rather reserved with people I don't know. One day I'm just gonna give in and you'll all read about it in the Star.
space opera
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I know exactly how that feels. I was always the one who got up on the table at parties and sang some crazy song or another. And I've been guilty of making silly noises in many situations where I shouldn't... I'm learning to resist these impulses, but it's so hard. Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I sometimes get irresistable urges to juggle in the produce department.
I always sing in parking decks. They just have such a great echoey sound, you know?
Riding the grocery basket in the parking lot. Most of them need front end work or something. They don't like to roll very straight. Also if I were designing them I would surreptitiously adjust the support bars to make the center of gravity of a rider better supported over the wheelbase.
I used to have a hard time passing by a big pile of leaves without jumping in, but I usually can resist this one now.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I ride grogery carts, too (although it's not as fun here where we don't have real hills. It helps change the center of gravity if you lean over just the right way...
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I want to play shopping cart chicken so badly. Also there is Walmart hockey to consider, but I hate walmart. Plus I never have anyone to play such games with me and that is sad. I also SING and dance while walking down the street. It is so embarassingly uncool.
Posted by Toretha (Member # 2233) on :
When we'd go grocery shopping with my Dad, often he'd go "let's sing" and we'd all go throughout the store singing. It worked out well-they actually asked my sisters and me to sing in the front of the store around christmas for a couple of hours near christmas and paid us too. I still sing grocery shopping. And ride shopping carts in the store. No dancing, though
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Oh, and it's fun to try to ring the grocery cart from halfway down the aisle, when buying nonfragile items. Doesn't work so great for eggs or lightbulbs, though.
Grocery stores are just fun places!
[ December 09, 2004, 11:38 AM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
Posted by Anna (Member # 2582) on :
I sing EVERYWHERE too. One hour ago a student looked funny at me and I just realized I was humming "hello, le soleil brille" (I don't know the english translation, it's the song they all sing in Bridge on the river Kwai). Embarassing, you said ? Anyway, I just smiled and did as nothing was strange. I'm good at it. Posted by Coccinelle (Member # 5832) on :
I like to sing and dance in my classroom. It really freaks out my students. Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I used to sing non-stop at work. I still sing an awful lot, but now I don't go anywhere.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
My brother and I used to do this thing at the mall where we'd walk in step but every eighth step we'd both simultaneously make a little hop. Oh and it was really important that we keep a straight face, too, and pretend like we didn't even notice we were doing it.
Then he got all shy and embarrassed on me and he wouldn't play along anymore.
Another thing we would do is both turn and stare at the people in the car next to us while stopped at a traffic light, and then quickly turn and look intently forward if they happened to glance in our direction.
Posted by WishfulWiggin (Member # 6823) on :
When me and my friends are really bored we head over to Toys 'R Us for hide and go seek. And we are sophmores in college. It's fun, it being quite a large store. And while your hiding you get to look at/play with the toys they have on display. The store is rather large, so each round can go on for a good 20 minutes. And the sales people there haven't noticed, I think as long as we dont scream and run they won'y.
Long car rides are fun. If there is traffic on a warm day, my brother, sister and I have really loud conversations about strange this. Such as how we were abducted by aliens a few nights back. We have gotten some really odd looks. Trips where you are traveling with a group in more than one vehicle is also fun. You can surprise the other car with random candy flying at the windows. Then it becomes a game, each car trying to hit the other more. You have to be careful though, I have gotten yelled at by random strangers who were hit with a stray toss.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
I've often had an urge, when walking through malls, to star knocking over those little kiosk things and shout "My temple should be a house of prayer -- but you have made it a den of thieves!"
Since I don't want to be carted off to a mental ward, I've successfully resisted this one so far. Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
These are hilarious to read I can't say I've really had any such urges myself, but it makes me recall a philosophy teacher I had in college (symbolic logic, specifically). She was also an avid folk dancer, and when the class was seeming lethargic and she didn't feel like she was getting through to us, she'd make us all stand up, push the desks back to the walls, and teach us a dance. I don't remember what dances we learned anymore, but it certainly made the class interesting.
Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :
My sister is notorious for having odd impulses...the most recent of which was when we were at a seminar not too long ago...apparently she had a sudden impulse to jump up and scream "AIR RAID!" and then bolt...
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
I often have the urge to shout "Wheeeeeeeeeee!" when going at just the right speed around a tight curve. I like doing it more when there's someone else in the car with me to appreciate it.
I like sticking my hand(s) out the windows, when they're rolled down (and I'm not driving), and flying them in the air.
I have fun dropping things from the top of the stairs over the banister to the floor below yelling "Bombs away!" The kitties don't appreciate that one very much.
[ December 09, 2004, 02:23 PM: Message edited by: ludosti ]
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
And then you'd go on to say, as the police came, "my time is almost through, little left to do"?
Posted by Toretha (Member # 2233) on :
When Jane, Jen and I went to the movies, we'd always sing little annoying songs (a pirate's life for me!) VERY loudly at stoplights with the windows rolled down. Always very enjoyable. And funny as we watched the looks of people around us.
Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :
I sing along with the radio in grocery stores all the time.
I don't jump into piles of leaves, but I cannot resist crunching the leaves under my feet as I walk down the sidewalk.
Sometimes while walking across the plaza at work, I will make a point to not step on any lines.
When I was at my university's computer lab this weekend, I couldn't resist turning over the mouse and cleaning its base and wheels off. They get so gunky! Eww!
If I see someone in a bookstore looking at a book I have read, I often cannot resist telling them that it's really, really good and that they should buy it.
Posted by Cashew (Member # 6023) on :
I've inherited from my mother the urge to tuck the little tags inside shirt and sweater collars back in when they're sticking up. She does it to people sitting in front of her on the bus , but I am able to successfully resist that, but I do it to people at work , to various reactions.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
xnera:
quote: When I was at my university's computer lab this weekend, I couldn't resist turning over the mouse and cleaning its base and wheels off. They get so gunky! Eww!
I do that all the time... Everybody complains about how their mouse is not working well, but nobody else cleans them! Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Cashew, I do that! And people do it to me. At college orientation the other day a girl had her sweater on inside out. I went up and told her.
I mean, I would want someone to tell me. She thanked me.
Posted by Cashew (Member # 6023) on :
I've done the standing in the bookstore next to someone looking at a book that I've read and telling them it's a good book too. I've also resisted that urge.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
xnera and Cashew: that's not the way to do it! Tell them THE ENDING, and then run away!
I remember a friend of mine was watching a movie on VCR with some other people and because she already saw it she was always telling a guy next to her when something interesting was going to happen. Another one got really upset, stopped the movie, and began asking her (warning, spoilers):
"Have you seen Fight Club?" "Umm... Noo..." "Well, Brad Pitt and Eduard Norton are the same person!!! Have you seen The Sixth Sense?" "Err... Nope..." "Well, the guy DIES at the beginning of the movie!"
...and some others I don't remember... Poor girl... But she had it coming! Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
quote:I have fun dropping things from the top of the stairs over the banister to the floor below yelling "Bombs away!" The kitties don't appreciate that one very much.
Just because they always land on their feet doesn't mean they like being dropped. Poor Kitties.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
No, I never drop the kitties (in fact, I'm so afraid that one of them will fall and hurt themselves that I don't let them sit up there). I was talking about stuff like laundry and empty boxes and stuff.
And no, I don't drop stuff on the kitties either. They just don't like the noise and the unpredicable bouncing.
[ December 09, 2004, 03:34 PM: Message edited by: ludosti ]
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
solo, if you put it this way, then... Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
My husband loves it when he runs throught he parking lot woth them in the shopping cart, and when he picks up speed he stands on the lower basket and rides. I have to remind myself this is a responsible man who does not want to kill his kids.
Posted by Uhleeuh (Member # 6803) on :
I have two weird, but not so random acts that drive my brother crazy. We play racquetball every Monday and Wednesday, and that's when I act my weirdest. I'll grab the raquets and hold them out behind me and flap them as if they were wings. I'll run in circles for a few minutes and then run at a wall and pretend to rest there, rubbing my elbows together the way a fly rubs its legs together. It drives him crazy because it's an indoor court at our school gym and it has a glass wall for all to see through.
Right after our games, I put my backpack on and then put my fleece pullover on over it. I then bend over and walk around campus saying "It's alive!"
My more random acts include randomly breaking into a dance in the student pool hall and loudly attempting to sing when we're walking.
My poor brother, he's with me whenever I do these things and he gets so embarassed. He's always telling me, "I can't believe you're my sister."
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
You know what else I do? I turn everyday objects into puppets and have conversations between them-- in public. Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Oh ketchupqueen! That's wonderful!
Another thing I do is narrate pretend documentaries for the benefit of the cats in a fake David Attenborough voice about whatever it is I'm doing around the house, for example, opening a can of catfood and emptying its contents onto a plate. I amuse myself endlessly with such things!
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
My husband really hates it when I start holding things up in the store and making them "talk" to him. He doesn't say he hates it, but he looks embarrassed and furtive whenever I do it.
Hmm...
*decides to do it again tonight* Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
quote: This morning I ran to the grocery, and while I was walking up to the check-out a song began to play. It was Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
Weirdest song I've heard at the supermarket: "Erotica"....unedited. I actually complained about it.
Posted by IvyGirl (Member # 6252) on :
I like to act crazy and say random things really fast so no one knows what I'm talking about.
I like to make it look like I'm talking to myself (or sometimes I really am) and then start yelling at myself. That always freaks people out.
And the best is randomly bursting into song at inappropriate or high tense times! Yay!
I also like to act very childish, especially after having a large intake of sugar or if someone is in a bad mood and I'm trying to cheer them up.
Skipping down the aisles of a grocery store and spinning in centers is also great entertainment. And running in the stores almost running into to people and things, but not quite. And then you ignore the sack boys and stuff and take your groceries out yourself so you can spin the cart around and drive it like a racecar, although you can do that in the store too.
Okay, that's all I can think of right now, but I know there are more weird things I do. And am tempted to do.
Ivygirl Posted by Coccinelle (Member # 5832) on :
I bought a kazoo yesterday evening. I felt the urge to play christmas songs on it this afternoon at work. I didn't resist.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote: I also have to resist the temptation to make loud noises during silences when I attend such things as book readings, etc. I always have this urge to yell something like, "Blleeaappp" while the speaker is doing their thing. This makes no sense to me, as I'm rather reserved with people I don't know. One day I'm just gonna give in and you'll all read about it in the Star.
Wow, and you seemed so demure (in a quietly wicked way) at KamaCon!
quote: I often have the urge to shout "Wheeeeeeeeeee!" when going at just the right speed around a tight curve. I like doing it more when there's someone else in the car with me to appreciate it.
I totally do this.
quote: I cannot resist crunching the leaves under my feet as I walk down the sidewalk.
Absolutely!
quote: If I see someone in a bookstore looking at a book I have read, I often cannot resist telling them that it's really, really good and that they should buy it.
Sure! Me too.
quote: I've inherited from my mother the urge to tuck the little tags inside shirt and sweater collars back in when they're sticking up.
*nod* Me too.
But as for the rest of them . . . O_o . . . man, y'all are STRANGE.
Posted by Toretha (Member # 2233) on :
Oh! Riding my scooter in crowded hallways (kick-scooter, not the motorized type) I go fast, and so about 5 yards after I've passed someone, I often hear a delayed reaction "Oh my GOD!" of startlement. And the challenge of navigating a crowd on a scooter is just so much fun! (I've yet to hit anyone, I'm very good on it, although I often terrify my friends by swooping past them so close they think I'm going to hit them)
Posted by Alucard... (Member # 4924) on :
Please don't try these stunts at home:
I used to drive around town in the passenger seat (with no one in the driver's seat).
I often wear a tie, and when browsing around MORE THAN ONCE in Sears, I have been approached by fellow customers who have mistaken me for a salesperson. So I will show them around the department they are interested in, excuse myself for a moment, then run. Away.
Once, I even sold a mattress to a couple in a furniture store.
You know, after recalling some of the more stupid things I have done, I think I need to go to confession...
But before I go, one more.
When no customers are looking, I will dance at work behind the counter, LIKE A COMPLETE DORK, and I dance dorkier and dorkier until I feel better. Once, and only once, I got caught. So now this customer calls me the dancing pharmacist. *Sigh*
I also ate one of my wife's crayons the first time we met. It was truly not love at first site.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I've never bothered suppressing these urges. I don't see the point. I want to be eccentric. All that's stopping me is having a tonne of money. The behavior, though, I've got down pat.
I've been kicked out of at least six Safeways in Edmonton, Alberta. Playing with the summer beach balls with friends. Or Frisbees. Or. . .
I jump in mud puddles, maximizing on splash.
I jump into piles of leaves. Well, not anymore, but that's cuz there's no fall here. And I'm not going to jump into a pile of garbage, which is all there is here.
I sing. In public. And not well at all.
I talk to myself or inanimate objects. They answer back. And I have entire conversations.
I dialogue - in public - with characters from my novels. I play all parts.
I dance for no good reason.
This one is mild, though. I think. I photograph just about everything all the time. And I take notes almost everywhere. With notebook and pen in hand. People try reading it, though. I just smack 'em.
What, this isn't acceptable behavior? Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
When the cats meow at me, I pretend they said complete and detailed sentences in Cat and I answer back in English as though replying to what they said. Sometimes I throw in cryptic comments so that anyone overhearing our conversation would wonder what the cat had said to me to prompt that. However, there is usually nobody here to overhear these conversations except the other cats.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
I do that with the dogs, anne kate!
[ December 10, 2004, 02:10 AM: Message edited by: Icarus ]
Posted by Cashew (Member # 6023) on :
quote: Weirdest song I've heard at the supermarket: "Erotica"....unedited. I actually complained about it
. The worst I've ever experienced was on hold to the IRD and having to listen to George Michael whine "I Want Your Sex" at me! I complained too.
My son and his wife take photos of the food they eat when they're in a restaurant. You should see their website!
Posted by Anna (Member # 2582) on :
I like to think that a little craziness from time to time prevents craziness to accumulate in yourself and make you really insane. Better out than in Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Hey, I take photos of the food I eat at restaurants, too! But then, I also take photos of the decor, the layout, the front doors or gate if it's really interesting, the art work scattered about hither and thither.
But then, I review restaurants, so I've got a built in excuse! Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I want Alucard to be my pharmacist. Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Cashew: I wish to see this website.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
I suppose my "Because I'm an evil person" thread falls into this category . .
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
One of my very good friends had the habit of getting on elevators in random places (where she knew no one) and saying, once the doors closed, "Well. I guess you're wondering why I called you all here today."
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
How does she continue afterwards?! That must be veeery strange!
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
She doesn't do it anymore, but when she did, everyone would turn to look at her, and she'd smile mysteriously for a moment until we got to the right floor. Then, she'd step out and say, "Never mind!" It wasn't always successful, though...sometimes she got embarassed and just said something like, "Uh...just kidding..."
Posted by JaneX (Member # 2026) on :
quote:I don't jump into piles of leaves, but I cannot resist crunching the leaves under my feet as I walk down the sidewalk.
Sometimes while walking across the plaza at work, I will make a point to not step on any lines.
I do both of those things. I also can't resist walking across fresh snow, which usually means walking across the grass while everyone else walks on the icky, slushy streets.
I like to ride on shopping carts.
I also have that urge to tuck people's shirt tags in. Usually I resist it, though, unless I know the person.
Not only do I recommend books at the bookstore, but sometimes when I overhear people having a conversation about something I like, I'll randomly jump in with a comment. That earns me a lot of strange looks.
I have a tendency to make random noises (such as "meep!") for no apparent reason. And I often talk to myself.
When I get bored, I orbit people. Or randomly tackle-hug them (though that's only with people I know).
And of course, I love to sing in public. Sometimes I dance, too. Or skip.
My friend Kep and I sometimes start swaying back and forth in unison while we're sitting at the dinner table. It's fun to see how long it takes for the other people at our table to notice.
Random weirdness is good.
[ December 10, 2004, 02:10 PM: Message edited by: JaneX ]
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
It warms the very cockles of my heart to see so much weirdness abounding among us all.
Rivka, I think you hit on the weirdest thing about my weirdness urges - I *am* slightly demure (and always wicked) among people I don't know well - that's why I wonder why all of my weird urges are very public things. 'Course, once I know you, demure is thrown away like a torn stocking. Most of the entries in my old high school yearbook begin with, "To the strangest (or insert weirdest/craziest) person I know..." I enjoy fooling people just enough with my reservedness just to get them comfortable.
Ok, that was a lie. I'm just shy and self conscious around people I don't know - but it sounded cool.
space opera
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
You know, on a scale of weirdness, none of those things are really that weird. I'm going out on a limb here and guessing that there aren't too many people who've had the urge to swerve suddenly in traffic. Or jump out the car door while on the highway.
Speaking of weird urges, here's an odd one from Chris Rock that I think most married people can relate to. It was something along the lines of "If you've never stared at box of rat poison in the kitchen for 45 minutes, you've never been in love. And the only thing that's stopping you is an episode of CSI."
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
Hmm. I guess one person's weirdness is another person's psychotic episode.
space opera
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Kayla, what's your definition of swerving in traffic? I frequently fight the urge to drive off high bridges into rivers, and occasionally fight the urge to swerve into cement bridge supports. (Occasionally meaning that urge comes less often, not that I fight it less often.) I have been assured that these are perfectly normal and I shouldn't worry about them unless they start to feel overwhelming. (Since I've never actually twitched the wheel, I would say they're pretty controllable.)
On weird urges I do give in to... I stick out my tounge at young children in public. Preferably when their parents can't see me. It's fun. But my mom got mad at me once, 'cause the kid stuck her tounge out back at me, and her mom saw and she got in trouble. I didn't notice that, or I would have gone right over and apologized to the woman and told her I had done it first. I felt bad afterwards. But I still do it. Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Like ElJay, I too like sticking my tongue out (or winking) at little kids. It's especially fun to do while sitting in church.
I remember once having a conversation with my mother-in-law about whether it was weird or normal to have the fleeting urge to swerve into oncoming traffic/medians/overpass supports. We decided that since both of us had had those urges before, they weren't _that_ weird. Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I bet if someone paid me 200 dollars I'd go out in public with my spider-man undawears on over my thermal undawears..
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
I chase ducks on campus.
I've been "boating" in the campus pond, in a little 2-man rubber inflatable boat. It didn't come with paddles, so we used cheap badminton rackets.
When waiting for someone or just being anxious, I sometimes rock back and forth standing up, right foot left foot roght foot left foot...
Posted by WheatPuppet (Member # 5142) on :
On the interstate, I deliberately match speeds with people trying to pass me, then I do my best to look in their car, and look conspicuous doing it. It's great when I'm driving the RAV-4, since it's a lot higher than most sedans on the road. Some people have some neat stuff in their cars.
I've had some funny reactions before. One time a guy floored it and dissapeared within a few minutes.
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, but I am able to successfully resist that, but I do it to people at work , to various reactions.
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