A few moments of your time, Veeky Forums

So I was at the dentist the other day, I had taken some light reading with me, and I was prepared to wait a bit as long as things weren't overtly loud. I brought along a tiny notebook and a pen I liked just in case it was too obnoxious an atmosphere for me. I only really wanted to do so as a way to keep me from letting my anger get the best of me.

So, inside the dentist office, I sit down and begin reading. Suddenly, a gigantic cow of a woman (an office assistant) behind the office kiosk began talking loudly to a new office member about whatever fleeting thought that came to her moronic head. I was overwhelmed and started to write, the first time I had ever done so in a public setting. After probably twenty minutes of writing about everything happening in the office, not looking at or saying anything, in a corner, the kiosk women closed the windows to their office, and I could distinctly hear "Well, he's been writing notes for several minutes" come wafting along the breeze by the voice of the fat woman who not thirty seconds before was speaking loudly of the three different fast food establishments she would have deliver to her in the office. I looked up as she said it, and I had an epiphany, I closed the notes, took up my book, and read for approximately one minute before the dentist called me in.

My question to you, is have you ever had a similar experience? Have you written in public and been the source of ultimate paranoia to others? In this world where our every word movement could and is recorded by phones constantly, why is one man writing so offensive? why does it strike fear in people?
I'm willing to admit I may be an autist, but typically I'm a socially savvy person.

Other urls found in this thread:

youtube.com/watch?v=sqYV-GLnxQU
thelastpsychiatrist.com/2012/10/the_story_of_narcissus.html
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

Anyone? Even an acerbic comment would be appreciated.

you sound crazy

Hm. I guess that's better than boring.

and I don't think I would like you very much given your extremely judgmental description of a woman you overheard talking

I've had some paranoia about writing or reading, but nothing seemingly justified like in your story OP. Unless some shit gets started over it, people could be watching or thinking whatever they want as they see me scribble or read.

I do want to say you sound unpleasant tho. If you can be writing in a way that visibly marks you as a jerk, it sounds like you probably were doing just that.

Why do people talking in a public setting makes you so uncomfortable?

You sound like a nagging faggot

Not really :/

I understand that it was justified, I was indeed writing about them, but what's strange to me is they immediately assumed that was the case, when I could have just as easily been say, recording them subtly with my cell phone. Why the paranoia for one thing and not the other? Why specifically does the act of writing give rise to suspicion?

get your popcorn boys this threads gonna be fun

I don't care how I'm viewed in this circumstance, nor what you think of my opinion regarding a tub of lard bellowing inanely about Jimmy Johns and lasagna delivery while I'm trying to read.

What I'm curious about is why the act of writing has such an effect.

I didn't get that the comment they said, in your version of the story, indicated they knew or suspected they were writing about you. The justification I meant was the fact someone at all mentioned you were writing out loud, paranoia about being watched or noticed. I don't think there's any reason to think they were aware you were writing about them; that's you feeling guilty for being a weird jerk probably.

pls respond

suspected YOU were writing about THEM*

I rather like this post, OP. It displays a flair for storytelling. You should keep a diary.

They probably only said it to fuck with you. And here you are, agonizing hours later over what to them was a brief and meaningless lark.

They specifically said "he's been writing notes for a while", after closing the windows to their office cloister. in a small dentist's office, where no one else was writing. This is a strong indication they were talking about me.

Why is writing to subdue my annoyance in a cathartic and harmless way a jerk move, anyway?

Call the whites for OP, he’s crazy

I probably should. It was nice to write, it was one of the first times I had done so in a long time. It felt good to direct that energy somewhere at least somewhat productive.
Maybe, but I doubt that. They seemed legitimately spooked.

You are a jerk for posting about this petty, stupid shit. You are a weirdo asshole for being so miffed that you need to write in public to block out the irritating noise of people that you don't like.

Not him but how does that indicate that they thought you were writing about them? It just means they saw you writing.

I see. Well, I disagree with you. I don't think it's petty to be curious about this. I mentioned it to my therapist as an interesting anecdote, and he mentioned a cousin of his who had been tossed out of a bar for writing at a table, bothering no one.
It confirmed somewhat that there is some sort of innate reaction to a person writing in the "wrong" setting.
Next time I will tell the cow to shut the fuck up loudly. Since you seem to prefer an act like that instead of harmless writing in a corner.

>be me
>18 years old
>in London on my own for two months
>writing in my journal about my experience in the city
>people passing by stare at me awkwardly and some giggle

I don't understand. It's as if the only writing some people do is in the classroom.

>t. the fat woman behind the kiosk

the post is super romantic

pull your head out of your ass be more pragmatic

i am picturing in my head chris chan sitting in the waiting room with a rainbow beanie baby ballcap, sonichu medallion and red/blue rugby striped longsleeve polo breathing through is mouth & mumbling to himself while frantically scrawling illegible chicken scratch dogshit drivel on a oversized yellow legal pad with a multipen

That's a fair question. Why else would they close their windows? If they weren't worried about me writing what was happening in the office, why would they cut off access to my hearing?

Christina*

You're seeing too much into it, op. It was probably just their lunchtime.

Well, that's quite a funny picture, I'll merit you, but hardly the case.
See this guy gets it. People think it's bizarre to write in public. Why? Hell, even someone in the thread thinks it's bizarre for me to have written in public.

You sound like a woman, though you probably don't look much like one.

It sounds like they wanted to talk shit about you without you hearing. Does not in any way indicate that they suspected you of writing about them in particular.

>Mmm I can't wait to order Digorno pizza for lunch
>Yaaaaa girl, let's do it- wait, is Mr. user still out there?
>Uh, yeah. He's been writing in his notebook for 20 min. *closes window*
>Make the call sistah! You know the number
Or any other augmentation of situations where a closed window might be preferred

> Well, that's quite a funny picture, I'll merit you, but hardly the case.

extremely purple

you are the guy in this video youtube.com/watch?v=sqYV-GLnxQU

you need humbling

Why is "he's been writing notes for a while" indicative of you?
Okay, she closed the window. You can't be certain it was because of you though.
Now, assuming she did get a hunch you were writing about her and closed the window to evade the uncomfortable situation--in her position I might do the same.
Did you make occasional eye contact with her then begin scribbling again?
It sounds very uncomfortable.
And on the whole (sorry if this irks you) you sound a tad-bit paranoid adding in the part about cellphones (not that you're entirely incorrect about cellphones, but that knowledge isn't widely understood and to think everyone knows about it is an over-generalization; someone talking about fast food restaurants is probably unaware of how their phone functions.)

I imagine a feverish user making an office full of people uncomfortable and nervous, as is the general reaction to young white males (which I imagine you are) writing furiously on a piece of paper in a waiting room. You were acting uncommon.

Will you please post everything you wrote while at the dentist's office?

>'You're crazy'
>No I'm not.
>'You're paranoid'
>I don't think so.
>'You are right'
>Finally, the answer I've been waiting for.

Suck on my artificial ovaries you dumb mfer.

Well, It's of interest to me at this point. I'm not upset or anything, I was more just curious about the event. Plus, I felt my awareness change while chronicling the events. It wasn't just about tubby, but also a distraught woman trying to get an appointment for her suffering child, and the heroic acts of whom I like to call the Office Matriarch who helped her. There was also a moment in which the fatty told the new worker to lie on their application forms, which I found even more abhorrent than the whale's song about chinese food and spam sandwiches.
Try it some time, guys. Try writing in public, and gauge people's reactions. See what I'm talking about here. See the paranoia that descends upon you.

I have a natural inclination toward self-loathing and Chris absolutely fucks me up. If I spend so much as five minutes reading CWCki articles I'll start to think "oh, I guess every time I was ever proud of myself I was just being delusional like Chris."

Please don't make posts like this.

I do write in public and have for a long time, people have never bothered me.

>You're crazy
>No, I'm not
>I SAID YOU'RE CRAZY STOP DENYING IT I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY OTHER ANSWER THEN A FULL CONFESSION YOU CRAZY PARANOID MADMAN

It's ok, this too shall pass (this menstrual cycle, that is).

dizzying

please dont post here in this state ever again

read this it will make your life easier, its really obvious you have a severe illness

thelastpsychiatrist.com/2012/10/the_story_of_narcissus.html

I’ve written in public several times, no one ever gave a shit. You’re either paranoid or doing something else while writing which attracts people’s attention.

What were you reading? Also, post what you wrote.

Well, you clearly didn't read what I wrote. I was in the corner of a small dentist office, one of maybe three waiting patients, probably had twenty chairs in it, and I was eyes down writing in a small composition book, like the mini ones. I was making eye contact with no one whatsoever. There was no one else in the room writing. Who the hell else would they have been talking about?
Because you imagine someone feverish or freakish writing and being generally insane, is indicative of the paranoia endemic to this scenario. It was obvious they wanted me to stop writing, and they closed their window assuming that I was writing about them. I heard the words, and stopped writing, realizing they had been paranoid, and enjoyed the relative quiet finally resting on the waiting room.
Yes, because they assumed I was writing to frighten or hurt people in some way, when in fact I wanted nothing of the sort.
I'm sorry, I'm just trying to be clear for people.

I wouldn't advise that you read too deeply into what people are saying and if/how it relates to you, I spent three months in the psych ward for obsessing over this. Or maybe you're on to something and I'm spooked - you decide.

Having said that I have a guess to their reaction, assuming that it was in fact to you and not, say, a doctor also busily writing notes in his own office. I will pair your experience with one of my own to illustrate my point.

I was reading outside a train station waiting for some friends once and a middle-aged slavic woman walked past and stopped to chat. She showed me a card she'd just bought (pic related) and told me it made her happy to see someone reading because "all anyone does now is this" and mimicked a person texting on their phone. I was reading, not writing, but my point is this: these are two practices that have been left behind by popular culture, at least to some degree, in favour of media and technology. So when someone reads a book instead of watching a youtube clip or when someone writes by hand instead of making a note on their smartphone they garner twice the attention that they would have even a decade ago.

TL, DR: Reading books and writing on paper are less common these days so these acts attract more curiosity than they would have in the past.

Note: The educated and elite (lawyers, doctors, etc) maintain these practices either because they have been ingrained into them from their pre-internet upbringing or because they find them somehow effective, so given my personal experience and the setting of yours I would allow for the second possibility as well. Either way I sympathize with the questions raised by your possibly schizophrenic rambling.

>white male

my god, I should have realized.
no, in actuality i am black. I don't see what the color of my skin has to do with this, however, you fucking racist piece of trash.

I like this guy (in the video). I also miss community college. This video captures something of the special place that is community college.

The kid is not being pretentious at all. It sounds like people appreciate and are entertained by his persona.

I think I do understand WHAT YOU WROTE, but the situation can't be understood because I'm only hearing your side, which at it's base sounds over the top and obsessive over what people think.
I don't know what to tell you. If your goal was to write about what's happening around you, maybe next time find an artful wait to explain an office lady shutting a window.

>digorno
that's not delivery, user.
in waiting rooms? doctors offices?
I was reading the book of the five rings, a gift from a friend. It would take me a while to post that, and honestly, it's not very good. I didn't write it for anyone to read, really.

No. You are not trying to be clear for people. You are going out of your way to include literary cliches:

> , I'll merit you,
> hardly the case
> Hell, even

> Why specifically does the act of writing give rise to suspicion?
really attention-seeking, loaded question.

> this whole post

> I don't care how I'm viewed in this circumstance, nor what you think of my opinion regarding a tub of lard bellowing inanely about Jimmy Johns and lasagna delivery while I'm trying to read.

holy shit

lol
Yeah I was gonna change it to just "male" but most shooters are white so I kept it.
You're right, not a great statement on my part. I'm not racist though.
Also, fuck you faggot.
Ope, now I'm a biggot. Not really though. Ope!

Thank you for the insight, and I suppose it's probably nothing more than just the divide of modernity, it was just an interesting anecdote for me, and I figured Veeky Forums might be interested in having a little chat about it. Seems like I was right. I have spent time in psych wards (for anger, essentially) and I really don't believe I'm looking at this from a schizophrenic point of view. Just perhaps a little over analytical.

You're even more autistic than I might be. Who gives a shit about my writing style? What's it to ya?

I was specifically in the mode of writing everything that happened around me, of course I'm going to notice when I'm mentioned specifically.

Okay.
But someone said in an earlier comment how if you go about it non-nonchalantly, it wont warrant attention.
I never write in public because it's uncomfortable and feels like I'm attracting attention. I'm not nearly extroverted enough to be a coffee shop laptop novelist.
Once again, OP. Idk what to say. Maybe just keep writing in dentist's offices. No biggy

Well, it's definitely a place of inspiration for me. So I just might.

this isnt about your writing style, its what youre trying to come across as.

i dont think you realize how ugly a picture you are painting yourself in

worse, all your flat denial of criticism itt i think shows sign of a grave, profoundly ugly sickness.

please read this
thelastpsychiatrist.com/2012/10/the_story_of_narcissus.html

perhaps i didn't come here for criticism (hey ur crazy) but rather to discuss paranoia?
regardless, i'll be happy to read that, it looks very interesting.

well ho lee shit that was one condescending fucking read. i sure am glad i have the presence of mind not to write like that. i may whip a few cliches around and write in an affected manner when it pleases me, but at least i'm not projecting harder than a... projection device.

Going to the same dentist office today, in fact.

They probably guessed who you were based on their list of appointments, and someone behind the desk asked "Is X here yet?" (maybe the dentist or their assistant checking you were still there/had shown up in case a previous appointment had just ended or gone overtime), to which she replied. There are many innocuous explanations, but your kind of petty misanthrope often suffers from an atrophied imagination.

yeah, I'm sure that nonsensical explanation about their paranoia is accurate because I'm misanthropic.

>Suddenly, a gigantic cow of a woman
stopped reading

Nobody ever looks at me for scribbling down thing into a piece of paper or into my notebook.
I have tons of materials that I carry in a folder with me around. Nobody cares.
Same with reading. The librarian sometimes asks, but nothing else.

I saw her again today. She had increased vastly in bulk, and when she took my name, her voice was the lilting tone of ham slapping together coupled with the wheezing of an antique vacuum.

Wow, your repeatedly taking for granted this "ultimate paranoia" as a fact is a bit troubling. Consider psychiatric help.

Op.
I have a pocket notebook with me at all times. Have been doing it for more than a couple years now and I photocopy and paste them into larger books. I am writing like notime before and I am really churning out my best work. Reading tomorrow at a University bar. One day at a time brother.

Why would the close the window to talk about you? That's a habit of the sane. It's not polite to talk about other people, so they'll try not to be overheard, even if what they're saying is innocent. If not a courtesy to you, it protects their own comfort and sense of propriety.

>I only really wanted to do so as a way to keep me from letting my anger get the best of me.
I can only imagine someone like the narrator from Notes scowling in the corner biting his pen looking around rigidly then writing something.
The staff would do something, he'd look up think how their minds are so inferior then write another line completely oblivious to how much he sticks out as a cunt.

Probably mentioned in the thread already but you taking notes is more noticeable than ones phone silently listening in on every spoken word. It's also rarer.

Your starts and stops could have been noticeably timed with their conversation's flow.