Crazy Magnet
I'm not quite sure what it is about me, but I attract crazy people. It doesn't seem to matter where I am or who I'm with. Some random person will come up to me and start talking about some random thing, as if we've been friends for ages. A particularly memorial example of this occurred at the BART station, when an elderly gentleman from India began talking to me about his home country, saying how blond hair was prized in his town. Then he asked me to marry him.
Another time at BART (much like Subway stations, these are favorite hangouts for the crazies), a woman came up to me and began a long discussion about how she ironed her dollar bills to make sure they would be accepted by the ticket machine. She then pulled out a stack of bills, showing both before and after examples, and instructing me on proper ironing technique (i.e. placing a wet paper towel over the bills before ironing will prevent burnage). Of course, by this time, my family had moved quite a distance away, leaving me with no polite escape from the "Crazy Bill Ironing Lady," as she's since come to be known.
The other day, while Eamon and I were grocery shopping, we became cornered in the pasta aisle by an extremely tall man. He looked down at Eamon and smiled at me, so I smiled back. That smile was all it took to convince Tall Man that we were now friends, and he could feel free to discuss his family history with me. Apparently, he has a teenage son who is already 6'4" tall, and still growing. Which is strange, because his mother was very short, and there aren't many tall genes in the family. I then made the mistake of mentioning that he seemed to have a few tall genes, which further solidified our "friendship" and caused the conversation to go on for much, much longer. Finally, Eamon became restless, and I was able to use him as an excuse to get on with our shopping.
Sometimes this crazy magnet aspect of my personality can be amusing, but mostly, it's just tedious. Especially during times like this weekend, when we were thrift store shopping for milk glass (I like the way they glow when you put candles in them). A helpful stranger who had asked about my purchases began searching the store for items I should buy, and putting them into my basket. He also showed me everything he was going to buy, all the while telling me of the extensive collections he has at home. It was a little awkward at the checkout line when Mr. Helpful Stranger noticed that I was not purchasing any of the things he had selected for me.
My family and friends have learned to discretely move away when a stranger approaches, stopping at a distance safe enough to be excluded from the conversation, but close enough to still be able to laugh at my distress.
Does anyone know a way (other than outright rudeness) to deflect the crazies? Do others have this problem too?
Another time at BART (much like Subway stations, these are favorite hangouts for the crazies), a woman came up to me and began a long discussion about how she ironed her dollar bills to make sure they would be accepted by the ticket machine. She then pulled out a stack of bills, showing both before and after examples, and instructing me on proper ironing technique (i.e. placing a wet paper towel over the bills before ironing will prevent burnage). Of course, by this time, my family had moved quite a distance away, leaving me with no polite escape from the "Crazy Bill Ironing Lady," as she's since come to be known.
The other day, while Eamon and I were grocery shopping, we became cornered in the pasta aisle by an extremely tall man. He looked down at Eamon and smiled at me, so I smiled back. That smile was all it took to convince Tall Man that we were now friends, and he could feel free to discuss his family history with me. Apparently, he has a teenage son who is already 6'4" tall, and still growing. Which is strange, because his mother was very short, and there aren't many tall genes in the family. I then made the mistake of mentioning that he seemed to have a few tall genes, which further solidified our "friendship" and caused the conversation to go on for much, much longer. Finally, Eamon became restless, and I was able to use him as an excuse to get on with our shopping.
Sometimes this crazy magnet aspect of my personality can be amusing, but mostly, it's just tedious. Especially during times like this weekend, when we were thrift store shopping for milk glass (I like the way they glow when you put candles in them). A helpful stranger who had asked about my purchases began searching the store for items I should buy, and putting them into my basket. He also showed me everything he was going to buy, all the while telling me of the extensive collections he has at home. It was a little awkward at the checkout line when Mr. Helpful Stranger noticed that I was not purchasing any of the things he had selected for me.
My family and friends have learned to discretely move away when a stranger approaches, stopping at a distance safe enough to be excluded from the conversation, but close enough to still be able to laugh at my distress.
Does anyone know a way (other than outright rudeness) to deflect the crazies? Do others have this problem too?
My mom attracts talkers, which is hysterical because she hates to talk to strangers. I have no advice for you, but a question - does this mean all of us commenters are nuts?
I so remember the Crazy Bill Ironing Lady - in fact it was me and my brother Tony who slowly walked away from the conversation leaving Jenni to continue without us. Boy, did we hear about that later! My girl's a charmer - what can I say? People like her!
Starfish - HA! I never thought of it like that. That also kind of makes me think that maybe I'M one of the crazies! After all, here I am, telling strangers all about my life on a regular basis. Hmmm... It's probably best not to examine that too closely....
sweetie, I could have written your post, very similar examples. Whenever I ask my friends they say 'it's beacause you smile too much' - heck!!!
Can't believe your mom even deserted you to deal with the crazy bill lady! lol that's love for ya ;)
If you figure out why people track me down from the other side of the store to tell me their life story, please let me know! I'm running out of polite excuses to leave! ;)
I attract the crazies too.....usually I am just rude.
me too. I don't know how to get rid of them other than to look at my watch and gasp and rush off.
btw, I tagged you.
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who attracts random conversation from strangers.
Thanks for the tag Suzanne! I'll check it out.
Yeah I attract them too. I think part of it is that people mistake me being nice, and they think its an invitation to tell me their life story or something. There's this checker at the grocery store that I have to avoid because he'll talk to me, even after my groceries are run up and others are waiting in line. He'll go through my groceries and tell me how to cook each thing I've bought. I always have to make an excuse to get out of the store. Stuff like that happens to me all of the time.
Yes, it happens to me too. I hate to be rude, but its what I have to do - good luck!
I attract children. Once my brother and I were in a chinese restaurant for dinner. He excused himself to go to the bathroom. By the time he came back, a child sat down in his seat and had started a conversation with me.
I make friends with every person I come into contact with and will almost always hear their life story. I have no idea why I bring this out in people. It normally doesn't bother me, but can get rather tedious. I tend to just smile and nod and say bye when I'm done listening :-) I figure someone crazy enough to tell a stranger their life story doesn't mind a brush off :-P