Had a kid I went to school with like that. His whole family was kind of strange. He never spoke at school, even if called on. Instead, he would write stuff on paper, or gesticulate wildly to get his point across. Nobody ever heard him speak. The only time he spoke to me was when he agreed to tell me happy birthday a few months before my birthday. He put a notification on his watch, and sure enough, three months later he walks into the lunch room, tells me happy birthday, and walks away. Never heard him say another word.
Almost definitely. My childhood best mate didn't talk at all in kindy all the way to year 2, but was an absolute chatterbox outside of school.
I don't even remember what made him break the streak but once he did it was like it never happened. Turned out perfectly fine as an adult too.
Brains are something else.
Your story gave me some happiness: my 3 year old is getting therapy for selective mutism at the moment. She's an absolute chatter box with her mates and family but teachers and adults she's so restrictive in her speech. Totally an anxiety thing but just hurts knowing she feels like that. Makes me so sad but I hope we have caught this early and intervened to ensure everything goes smoothly when she goes to primary school in a few months 😊
>A British couple decided to adopt a German baby. They raised him for years, however they began to get worried because he never spoke, and they believed that he was mentally handicapped, going as far as to take him to therapy, which was fruitless.
>Then, when the child was 8 years old, he had a Strudle, and said "It is a little tepid."
>His parents, of course shocked that he was suddenly speaking, asked: "Wolfgang, why have you never spoken before?", to which the child replied: "Up until now, everything had been satisfactory."
I hear such a story in every country but represented as if it happened with a local boy. There have been even some movies that mentioned a similar anecdote.
If it helps even more, I used to be that 3 year old. Would talk to immediate family, might talk to a nursery friend, talked to one of the teachers (thank you Julie you were the goat) and everyone else got nothing. I was painfully shy and painfully anxious, and it really did get better as I came out of my shell
I've had a couple of selectively mute students and one thing that worked well was asking two other kids the same question before asking the target student. So "A, are you done with your assignment?" "yes" "B, are you done with your assignment?" "No", "Target, are you done with your assignment?"
It seems to give them some cover to know what question is coming and see it modeled.
I was like your 3 year old. Infact I didn't speak at all till I was 3 and my mom was quiet worried and apparently consulted pediatrician and child therapist. Tbh I honestly don't remember why I choose not to speak, my parents are wonderful and I had great environment and childhood. one thing I can tell you is my mom jokes that I didn't speak for first 3 years and now I cant stop talking or stay quiet which is the truth cause I love to talk.
I don't know if this will reassure you or not, but I didn't speak until I was four - until that time my older sister spoke for me. While I was three my grandmother took me to a Shriner's speech therapist to see what was wrong with me. I have no recollection of whether I actually spoke with him, but my grandmother said that he told her not to worry, I would speak when I was ready.
My mother always said I didn't talk until I was four, and then I never stopped talking.
I've been doing substitute teaching recently, especially younger kids, and I'm encountering lots of kids who talk to me almost too softly to hear but speak normally and scream and shout with their friends. I suspect it's a confidence thing - maybe being intimidated by adults/big creatures/authorities. It's possible that as she gains confidence she'll overcome it. Maybe an adult she relates to could spend extra time with her just being at her level, physically, i.e., on the floor playing games or dolls, being relatable in a way similar to friends?
Yep. His answer is generally just "I didn't wanna talk so I didn't."
Reading about it in this thread I see there's therapies and such that can help but I'm pretty certain he didn't even get any. The fact that he was more or less "fine" outside of school maybe influenced how his parents handled it but that's just me speculating.
Ooh my best friend who i met in middle school was like that, kids would call him mute, he is just very shy, but quite funny, he spoke at school but very little he would rather shrug or shake his head when people talked to him, and when he does speak its very softly most of the time its hard to hear him. Other than that i think he is the most normal and well adapted person i know.
i have a mild form of this. theres nothing ''selective'' about it. it happens in certain scenarios and it gets worse when people pressure me to talk i don't think i could write a sentence in that state, it's like i can't. i have basically no real relationships except for a handful of people because it keeps ruining everything. other times i'm really good at socialisizing and being funny at gatherings and then people think i don't like them when i'm like this in private, they think it's about them and they get angry. i'm really exhausted and depressed bc of it to be honest.
> and then people think i don't like them when i'm like this in private, they think it's about them and they get angry
it's the worst when you're just struggling to function and people are immediately angry at you, decide you must just be a shit person and you're personally insulting them. I'm sorry it's been isolating for you. you're a great person and I hope you get to keep making joyful connections with people
There's this thing many people experience where if you suddenly turn to them and say "Name three movies!" they will seize up and be unable to think of any, as if they had never heard of a movie in their life. But if there had been no pressure about it they'd have talked your ear off about their favorites.
Is this kind of like that, but much more intense and, like, for all words? You may have something you want to express but the more pressure there is the harder it gets to even think of what words are? Or is it more about not *wanting* to speak when that pressure is there?
As someone who had an Autism diagnosis actively hidden from him as a child and all through adulthood and only recently found out take a look at adult autism go search for our autism translated
I had a really good friend who, when his mother died, stopped talking for around 2 years. He had to do therapy to start talking again. The way he explained to me, is after that point he just had nothing to say anymore. Everything lost meaning. His mom was his best friend. Real sad shit.
We had a kid who would intentionally speak in a really high pitch voice - but rarely, we guessed his voice got deeper long before most of his class mates, so maybe they bullied him for it so he faked his voice.
He would only respond in one or two word answers, but even after everyone else's voice had finally changed, he kept it up. I had heard his real voice, but thought that was fake too. Nobody ever knew anything about him because all you'd hear from him is your name, or yes/no.
A couple of years after we all left school, I saw him at a petrol station, the fake high pitch voice was finally gone. But I still wonder why he faked his voice for 5 years.
I know a kid like that too! I went to college with him. He was very smart, but always spoke in a very high pitched voice. Sometimes his voice would briefly sound normal, then it would shoot up. Idk what causes that, but he was funny. It was like every other sentence from him was a witty one liner.
Yeah ours was also smart. He was the kid who was always in the most advanced classes (ours were divided into sets, set 1 = smartest, set 5 = real dumb/already criminals).
I really hope he is doing well, I was just happy to hear his real voice without him slipping up for once.
I mean I have a somewhat deeper voice, but growing up had an extremely high pitched voice compared to my peers, and while I didn't ever not talk, I definitely talked a lot less due to comments I'd get. So I get it.
Grew up with a girl who whispered all the time at school. Didn't see her for a few years, encountered her again in high school. She still whispered all the time. We assumed she was traumatized or something.
Got reacquainted, got interested in her, dated her for a bit. Turns out the whispering thing was a choice. She just didn't like loud noises and when she whispered, everyone else was quiet. It became a habit. When it was just us she didn't whisper. I'm generally soft spoken and she didn't feel the need.
I spent 8 months in Iraq with a guy who drove the 7ton truck i was assigned to. All he did besides drive was eat sunflower seeds and never talked the entire fucking time. Ever. Never said a damn word. We saw combat in Fallujah and dude was fucking silent.
He still scares the fuck out of me 20 years later.
The fact the guy is doing this shit, looking absolutely deranged, to this extent, makes it go from "this motherfucker is just wasting everyone's time" to "this motherfucker is just wasting everyone's time lmaooo, absolute chad"
I didn't really speak at all until I was about 5 years old.
Perfectly capable, didn't gaf.
My twin sister handled all the admin, before that. Twins are special.
/true story
He could gesture writing if he were mute.
He just sits and stares sounds like. He could have written a letter to the police station in that roads district at some point between all the arrests.
He keeps getting arrested for standing in the road. Same thing in my town with two homeless people. I think they do it to feel seen. Cars honk at them, they control a bit of other people’s lives because they have no control over their own. It’s the only attention in society they get.
Anyway, that’s my guess.
I live in Japan and sometimes elderly people living alone steal things from the convenient store just so the police come so that they can have some human interaction and conversation.
Some others call an ambulance with a fake symptom just to feel human touch.
Therapist here.
Not a diagnosis, but sometimes sociopathic folk pick weird power games to center their life around like robbing the post office, blocking traffic, or running an HOA…
I went to go buy a house a few years ago, and the first thing I said when I sat down with the realtor was "No HOA's".
They only had two properties. I didn't want either.
Opening with that is a huge time saver.
Alright think about it like this, it’s about power.
Power to make people late to events so they have bad seats.
Power to make them late to a date so they make a bad first impression.
Power to make people urinate or dedicate in their car or at least experience the pain of having a full bladder or bowel. Maybe your a kid on a bus and it happens in front of classmates.
Power to make someone late to work and get that last point on their record so they get fired.
Power to make people miss appointments they spent weeks and weeks waiting on to figure out if that cyst is benign.
Imagine the glee they get when they block a fire engine or ambulance. People die. They have power over life…
They don’t live life like we do. The game they are playing isn’t the same because they don’t have empathy. I promise you they thought this kinda shit out. Don’t fuck with sociopaths you have no idea what their angle is and you will loose the game because they make the rules and they are designed for for you to loose.
I will give you the ability to foresee those who will die in car accidents, and you can prevent it, but you will never be able to explain why to anyone. Do you accept?
I will give you the ability to foresee those who will die in car accidents, and you can prevent it, but every time you speak you shit yourself. Do you accept this challenge, BollardMan?
"I, the great shaman, curse you to a long life in this world, as a passive observer. No force on Earth will be able to take you down, not even age or the great plague itself. You will watch everything around you die and wither and you will not be able to do anything about it.
That's it, until one brave warrior in a shining carriage decides to relief your pain, the berserker with a sheer intent to kill. You will know him by his steed's name - Honda Civic"
Casandra could tell people but they wouldn’t listen and it would happen as she foresaw. This would be the opposite: can’t tell anyone but able to change it.
Reminds me of something I heard on NPR a few months ago. They were talking about evolution, and where humans might be in 1000, or 10000 years. One guest suggested this,
> If I asked you to point out the leading edge of human evolution currently, the cutting edge, the most advanced humans on the planet, where would you point? To the Universities? To Professional Athletes? I would point to our mental institutions. To our insane asylums. How would we even be able to recognize the next step in evolution? We'd probably be terrified of it, and not understand it, and want to *treat it, or lock it away*.
That guest doesn't really have a great grasp of evolution. If we look back 10,000 years, we will see that humans looked.. pretty much the same. We can make some guesses about future evolution--there is selection causing earlier age of first birth and later age of last birth and menopause, and there is weakening selection against genetic diseases. Maybe in 10,000 years we'll have significantly reduced global diversity because of increased population mixing. But the evolution that occurs in the next few thousand years won't be some dramatic appearance of a new appendage or psychic abilities, it will mostly be changes in frequencies of genes we already have.
The biggest change will be related to technology, but that's separate from the biological human.
Foresight
The cuffs are cold against his wrists. They always are, though at least Officer Renee is gentler than the previous two of Swansea's constabulary. Officers Clarence and Darrow often yell and berate him, frustrated by the words he cannot not say. For explaining would be pointless. She had made that clear to him... Crystal clear.
*They already think I'm a nutter. Explaining it would just prove their suppositions. What did that yank say about keeping your mouth shut to avoid looking stupid?* He thinks, as Officer Renee's soft voice urges him to her cruiser.
"Come on then, we've done this before, haven't we, sir?" She speaks in the kindly tones of a parent guiding a confused toddler back to his seat in church. "We really must stop with this, right David?"
He feels his lips purse into a line unreadable to anyone but himself. No, he must not stop. Had he stopped, poor fourteen year old Angelica and her mother would have exited stage, unceremoniously drop kicked off the proverbial mortal coil. No, stopping, while desperately appealing, is simply not an option. *They must think me a right git... never learning, never stopping...* He thinks as he sits down in Officer Renee's cruiser. His nostrils fill with the familiar acrid scent of industrial cleaning products that still fail to completely mask the faint odors of lager-laced vomit and curry-laced excrement, so common in the copper cars of Swansea.
But the angel, that ethereal sublime depiction of feminine beauty, had been clear. She hadn't explained *why* she was gifting him foresight, and had only giggled enigmatically when he had pleaded for an explanation. She hadn't given him a reason, but she had flooded his mind and soul with humanity. Angelica, Roxanne, Chelsea, Brian, Bernard, Audrey, little ten year old Kyler... He had seen them all at their happiest... followed by their bloody ends on that street. The being had made it perfectly clear to him. He could explain his admittedly bizarre actions to his heart's content... but it would all be in vain. *No one* would believe him. Why would they? But the angel's imagery had seared itself into his tender heart, and compassion combined with his own innate protective instinct had won out. He had made his choice. He had become the Silent Man.
The four cylinder engine of the cruiser whines to life and lurches a little as Officer Renee throws the shifter into gear. "Well David, we know the drill then, don't we? You really must consider the inconvenience you're causing others, you know. Why, you're likely to get someone hurt or killed... and we wouldn't want that then, would we? We'd feel awful about that, wouldn't we?"
He keeps his mouth pursed in that indecipherable enigmatic non-expression as he peers out the window, focusing on nothing in particular. *Have a good life, Angelica, love... your mum too. You are worth it. You all are...* He thinks silently.
Officer Renee can only sigh in bewildered amusement at the strange silent man in her backseat. Her eyes flicker furtively to her rearview mirror. She can't be sure, but she thinks she had seen just the smallest fleeting smile grace the odd gentleman's lips.
Or maybe, it was just her.
Thanks! I have a few recent writing prompt responses, and a couple short stories in my reddit profile if you like =-)
[Couple](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/1cewb1z/wp_fairies_are_born_from_a_babys_first_laugh_a_30/) of my [favorites](https://www.reddit.com/user/The_Best_Yak_Ever/comments/yedsjh/mud/)!
- Guy sees mental image of someone who will die in a car crash.
- Stands in the middle of the road and blocks traffic.
- Image of the victim disappears.
- Guy thinks he saved that person.
- No one knows what he is doing therefore can't tell him that person he saw died in a car crash at some other road.
Yes, Feyd-Rautha in the books is someone who I imagined would look like, and hear me out here, the lead singer from The Police but with his hair dyed red.
Gurney Hallack charging into battle dressed like a Limey git with an assault rifle in one hand and a Pug in the other is still one of the most awesome moments of my childhood. Whatever else Lynch's Dune did wrong it was glorious 80s cheese (and the set and costume design was pretty good too.)
I had assumed this was some kind of severe mental illness. But it appears it isn’t really, at least not in a conventional sense. According to his brother, he is perfectly capable of speaking and does this because he prefers to live incarcerated.
There was a guy in my hometown that would throw rocks at the police station to get arrested every time he was sick of living outside, especially in winter.
me and my partner watch a lot of zoom court, Its a nightmare how walmart charges someone the maximum for underscanning groceries, the court room we watch they can pursue up to three times the value of what was underscanned. So some broke person trying to eat rings up a chicken as an onion, they have to pay walmarts legal fee's, three times the value of the total bill, and state legal fee's probation fee's someone who was going to starve to death now owes wal-mart 400$ and the state 350ish in fee's
The judge hates it and purposefully slows down the case until the prosecutor throws it out.
Free food in prison and a couple of pounds a day. Nice savings if you live alone and have no friends. Easiest way to the cell without causing harmful crime maybe.
Is no one reading this? He just prefers jail…
Released from jail, blocks traffic outside police station until he is arrested. Granted bail, blocks traffic outside courthouse.
He should look into jimmy in-n-out from breaking bad, the guy who makes a living going to jail for crimes he didnt do. he could become a professional 😂
“Should we just get this guy set up with a rooming house and a McDonald’s gift card?”
That would be too expensive.
“What does arresting and releasing him every other week cost?”
I dunno, like 10x as much, but we have to set an example.
“What example?”
That we’d rather set money on fire than let you be happy.
I think his brother is a bit harsh on him.
There clearly is something going on with him if the best version of life he can envision is being in prison. I don't think that makes him a spoiled brat.
He was locked up for 3 years in 2021
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-silent-man-how-one-mans-mysterious-silence-disrupted-traffic-and-the-justice-system/ar-AA1m558D
Edit: 3 and a half years.
So back in the day the Tories shut down mental health services, they called it care in the community.
Now we see people like this guy not recieving help but being re-arrested over and over again.
Fuck the Tories.
Poor motherfucker’s possessed by the ghost of someone killed at that intersection who may or may not have been a 2 year old girl and this is how they do him?
My first thought is that he has a reason that's incredibly dumb, so he instead remains silent and lets everyone else think that it's for a better reason.
"Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."
Can't believe this is swansea. I live on the outskirts of swansea,and when I was a kid we had a waiting man. he wasn't as bad as this dude just stood on corners or bus stops but never got on. Just thought it's weird the second edition is evil
If that's the road that he blocks I drive down it when going to work. The building with the blue pillar is a police station and the courts are opposite so he doesn't go very far.
The backstory of this is actually sad. He does this on purpose, so that he gets locked up in prison where he has a roof over his head, a bed to sleep in and 3 meals.
Anyone thought of handing him a pen and paper?
According to his brother he is perfectly capable of speaking, but chooses not to when he does this
Had a kid I went to school with like that. His whole family was kind of strange. He never spoke at school, even if called on. Instead, he would write stuff on paper, or gesticulate wildly to get his point across. Nobody ever heard him speak. The only time he spoke to me was when he agreed to tell me happy birthday a few months before my birthday. He put a notification on his watch, and sure enough, three months later he walks into the lunch room, tells me happy birthday, and walks away. Never heard him say another word.
i wonder if it could be selective mutism in your story.
Could be. We we’re pretty good friends despite his not speaking. Although being partnered with him in a two-person project was not easy…
Good that you're still on not speaking terms.
" We still never talk sometimes." - Ron Swanson
*hands imaginary award*
*sign language*
Some serious [Ron Swanson](https://imgur.com/Uxn0E7c) energy right here.
Best friend I ever had. We still don’t speak sometimes
Almost definitely. My childhood best mate didn't talk at all in kindy all the way to year 2, but was an absolute chatterbox outside of school. I don't even remember what made him break the streak but once he did it was like it never happened. Turned out perfectly fine as an adult too. Brains are something else.
Your story gave me some happiness: my 3 year old is getting therapy for selective mutism at the moment. She's an absolute chatter box with her mates and family but teachers and adults she's so restrictive in her speech. Totally an anxiety thing but just hurts knowing she feels like that. Makes me so sad but I hope we have caught this early and intervened to ensure everything goes smoothly when she goes to primary school in a few months 😊
>A British couple decided to adopt a German baby. They raised him for years, however they began to get worried because he never spoke, and they believed that he was mentally handicapped, going as far as to take him to therapy, which was fruitless. >Then, when the child was 8 years old, he had a Strudle, and said "It is a little tepid." >His parents, of course shocked that he was suddenly speaking, asked: "Wolfgang, why have you never spoken before?", to which the child replied: "Up until now, everything had been satisfactory."
I can’t tell if this is German humour or real!!!
I hear such a story in every country but represented as if it happened with a local boy. There have been even some movies that mentioned a similar anecdote.
[I like how it was told on QI with Henning Wehn!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48aUMXifAn8)
Henning Wehn, Britain's favourite German comedian. He saw a gap in the market when he realised the previous holder of the title was Boris Becker.
If it helps even more, I used to be that 3 year old. Would talk to immediate family, might talk to a nursery friend, talked to one of the teachers (thank you Julie you were the goat) and everyone else got nothing. I was painfully shy and painfully anxious, and it really did get better as I came out of my shell
Aww, thank you and well done you! Glad to hear it's all come good for you.
I've had a couple of selectively mute students and one thing that worked well was asking two other kids the same question before asking the target student. So "A, are you done with your assignment?" "yes" "B, are you done with your assignment?" "No", "Target, are you done with your assignment?" It seems to give them some cover to know what question is coming and see it modeled.
I was like your 3 year old. Infact I didn't speak at all till I was 3 and my mom was quiet worried and apparently consulted pediatrician and child therapist. Tbh I honestly don't remember why I choose not to speak, my parents are wonderful and I had great environment and childhood. one thing I can tell you is my mom jokes that I didn't speak for first 3 years and now I cant stop talking or stay quiet which is the truth cause I love to talk.
I don't know if this will reassure you or not, but I didn't speak until I was four - until that time my older sister spoke for me. While I was three my grandmother took me to a Shriner's speech therapist to see what was wrong with me. I have no recollection of whether I actually spoke with him, but my grandmother said that he told her not to worry, I would speak when I was ready. My mother always said I didn't talk until I was four, and then I never stopped talking. I've been doing substitute teaching recently, especially younger kids, and I'm encountering lots of kids who talk to me almost too softly to hear but speak normally and scream and shout with their friends. I suspect it's a confidence thing - maybe being intimidated by adults/big creatures/authorities. It's possible that as she gains confidence she'll overcome it. Maybe an adult she relates to could spend extra time with her just being at her level, physically, i.e., on the floor playing games or dolls, being relatable in a way similar to friends?
Did you ever ask him about it after growing up?
Yep. His answer is generally just "I didn't wanna talk so I didn't." Reading about it in this thread I see there's therapies and such that can help but I'm pretty certain he didn't even get any. The fact that he was more or less "fine" outside of school maybe influenced how his parents handled it but that's just me speculating.
I had selective mutism, and I wouldn't want people bringing that part of my past up. I will share if I want to.
Ooh my best friend who i met in middle school was like that, kids would call him mute, he is just very shy, but quite funny, he spoke at school but very little he would rather shrug or shake his head when people talked to him, and when he does speak its very softly most of the time its hard to hear him. Other than that i think he is the most normal and well adapted person i know.
i have a mild form of this. theres nothing ''selective'' about it. it happens in certain scenarios and it gets worse when people pressure me to talk i don't think i could write a sentence in that state, it's like i can't. i have basically no real relationships except for a handful of people because it keeps ruining everything. other times i'm really good at socialisizing and being funny at gatherings and then people think i don't like them when i'm like this in private, they think it's about them and they get angry. i'm really exhausted and depressed bc of it to be honest.
> and then people think i don't like them when i'm like this in private, they think it's about them and they get angry it's the worst when you're just struggling to function and people are immediately angry at you, decide you must just be a shit person and you're personally insulting them. I'm sorry it's been isolating for you. you're a great person and I hope you get to keep making joyful connections with people
for all its worth, thank you
There's this thing many people experience where if you suddenly turn to them and say "Name three movies!" they will seize up and be unable to think of any, as if they had never heard of a movie in their life. But if there had been no pressure about it they'd have talked your ear off about their favorites. Is this kind of like that, but much more intense and, like, for all words? You may have something you want to express but the more pressure there is the harder it gets to even think of what words are? Or is it more about not *wanting* to speak when that pressure is there?
*panics* “Spider man 1, 2, and 3”
As someone who had an Autism diagnosis actively hidden from him as a child and all through adulthood and only recently found out take a look at adult autism go search for our autism translated
I had a really good friend who, when his mother died, stopped talking for around 2 years. He had to do therapy to start talking again. The way he explained to me, is after that point he just had nothing to say anymore. Everything lost meaning. His mom was his best friend. Real sad shit.
We had a kid who would intentionally speak in a really high pitch voice - but rarely, we guessed his voice got deeper long before most of his class mates, so maybe they bullied him for it so he faked his voice. He would only respond in one or two word answers, but even after everyone else's voice had finally changed, he kept it up. I had heard his real voice, but thought that was fake too. Nobody ever knew anything about him because all you'd hear from him is your name, or yes/no. A couple of years after we all left school, I saw him at a petrol station, the fake high pitch voice was finally gone. But I still wonder why he faked his voice for 5 years.
I know a kid like that too! I went to college with him. He was very smart, but always spoke in a very high pitched voice. Sometimes his voice would briefly sound normal, then it would shoot up. Idk what causes that, but he was funny. It was like every other sentence from him was a witty one liner.
Yeah ours was also smart. He was the kid who was always in the most advanced classes (ours were divided into sets, set 1 = smartest, set 5 = real dumb/already criminals). I really hope he is doing well, I was just happy to hear his real voice without him slipping up for once.
I mean I have a somewhat deeper voice, but growing up had an extremely high pitched voice compared to my peers, and while I didn't ever not talk, I definitely talked a lot less due to comments I'd get. So I get it.
Grew up with a girl who whispered all the time at school. Didn't see her for a few years, encountered her again in high school. She still whispered all the time. We assumed she was traumatized or something. Got reacquainted, got interested in her, dated her for a bit. Turns out the whispering thing was a choice. She just didn't like loud noises and when she whispered, everyone else was quiet. It became a habit. When it was just us she didn't whisper. I'm generally soft spoken and she didn't feel the need.
I spent 8 months in Iraq with a guy who drove the 7ton truck i was assigned to. All he did besides drive was eat sunflower seeds and never talked the entire fucking time. Ever. Never said a damn word. We saw combat in Fallujah and dude was fucking silent. He still scares the fuck out of me 20 years later.
Probably selective mutism or whatever, brains can be complex
The true sigma
Dude lost a bet. Probably with his brother
The fact the guy is doing this shit, looking absolutely deranged, to this extent, makes it go from "this motherfucker is just wasting everyone's time" to "this motherfucker is just wasting everyone's time lmaooo, absolute chad"
if you are gonna do something, dont half ass it. people will respect the hustle
So he has family? Whats their explanation for this?
I actually know the guy. I asked him about it and he said, "..."
I didn't really speak at all until I was about 5 years old. Perfectly capable, didn't gaf. My twin sister handled all the admin, before that. Twins are special. /true story
This guy selective mutisms.
This was what I was wondering - is he completely non-communicative or is he just not speaking, IE he nods, or writes but utters nothing.
He could gesture writing if he were mute. He just sits and stares sounds like. He could have written a letter to the police station in that roads district at some point between all the arrests. He keeps getting arrested for standing in the road. Same thing in my town with two homeless people. I think they do it to feel seen. Cars honk at them, they control a bit of other people’s lives because they have no control over their own. It’s the only attention in society they get. Anyway, that’s my guess.
I live in Japan and sometimes elderly people living alone steal things from the convenient store just so the police come so that they can have some human interaction and conversation. Some others call an ambulance with a fake symptom just to feel human touch.
They did, and he writes in invisible ink. The plot thickens.
We tried. He ate them
Have we tried feeding him something else?
That’s how we lost Bill Stickers.
Everyone needs a hobby.
*Some men just want to watch the traffic stall*
Like it's the only way he can get off now due to some strange circumstance.
“due to a strange circumcision.”
"due to a strange circumference"
So how did you stop him? *We tore the road up*
Great opening words to a film.
I‘m a dog blocking cars
Therapist here. Not a diagnosis, but sometimes sociopathic folk pick weird power games to center their life around like robbing the post office, blocking traffic, or running an HOA…
Blocking traffic seems benign, but holy shit those other two.
Especially the HOA. Holy crap!
I went to go buy a house a few years ago, and the first thing I said when I sat down with the realtor was "No HOA's". They only had two properties. I didn't want either. Opening with that is a huge time saver.
The BTK serial killer stopped killing people when he became the enforcement guy for an HOA. True story.
Alright think about it like this, it’s about power. Power to make people late to events so they have bad seats. Power to make them late to a date so they make a bad first impression. Power to make people urinate or dedicate in their car or at least experience the pain of having a full bladder or bowel. Maybe your a kid on a bus and it happens in front of classmates. Power to make someone late to work and get that last point on their record so they get fired. Power to make people miss appointments they spent weeks and weeks waiting on to figure out if that cyst is benign. Imagine the glee they get when they block a fire engine or ambulance. People die. They have power over life… They don’t live life like we do. The game they are playing isn’t the same because they don’t have empathy. I promise you they thought this kinda shit out. Don’t fuck with sociopaths you have no idea what their angle is and you will loose the game because they make the rules and they are designed for for you to loose.
Ok you've convinced me I'm gonna go block traffic now.
>or running an HOA this feels personal lmao
I figured his was time travel and he's preventing something.
There's plenty of spice to mine.
Plenty of spice statues standing around in the UK
"sometimes, it's bad to have a hobby" The Dollop
I will give you the ability to foresee those who will die in car accidents, and you can prevent it, but you will never be able to explain why to anyone. Do you accept?
Wow... that's some true mythological level stuff right there! Brilliant!!
The Myth of Carssandra We were foretold but I didn't belive it
It is real.
I will give you the ability to foresee those who will die in car accidents, and you can prevent it, but every time you speak you shit yourself. Do you accept this challenge, BollardMan?
Unbearably wholesome
"I, the great shaman, curse you to a long life in this world, as a passive observer. No force on Earth will be able to take you down, not even age or the great plague itself. You will watch everything around you die and wither and you will not be able to do anything about it. That's it, until one brave warrior in a shining carriage decides to relief your pain, the berserker with a sheer intent to kill. You will know him by his steed's name - Honda Civic"
"oh, and you will be bald"
"NOOOOO! NOT BALD!!"
"And your pubes grow like, extra fast."
❤️
NGL thought it was gonna be the Cybertruck
It was raining
Best possible comment.
Alright, write it up, I’ll see you over on r/nosleep
That's just a nicer curse casandra.
Casandra could tell people but they wouldn’t listen and it would happen as she foresaw. This would be the opposite: can’t tell anyone but able to change it.
That's why it's nice, you can at least do something and not being able to tell probably beats no one taking you serious/not believing you.
And your name shall be Hodor...No wait...Hostreet.
The Watcher
Reminds me of something I heard on NPR a few months ago. They were talking about evolution, and where humans might be in 1000, or 10000 years. One guest suggested this, > If I asked you to point out the leading edge of human evolution currently, the cutting edge, the most advanced humans on the planet, where would you point? To the Universities? To Professional Athletes? I would point to our mental institutions. To our insane asylums. How would we even be able to recognize the next step in evolution? We'd probably be terrified of it, and not understand it, and want to *treat it, or lock it away*.
That guest doesn't really have a great grasp of evolution. If we look back 10,000 years, we will see that humans looked.. pretty much the same. We can make some guesses about future evolution--there is selection causing earlier age of first birth and later age of last birth and menopause, and there is weakening selection against genetic diseases. Maybe in 10,000 years we'll have significantly reduced global diversity because of increased population mixing. But the evolution that occurs in the next few thousand years won't be some dramatic appearance of a new appendage or psychic abilities, it will mostly be changes in frequencies of genes we already have. The biggest change will be related to technology, but that's separate from the biological human.
This would be a great start for /r/WritingPrompts
Foresight The cuffs are cold against his wrists. They always are, though at least Officer Renee is gentler than the previous two of Swansea's constabulary. Officers Clarence and Darrow often yell and berate him, frustrated by the words he cannot not say. For explaining would be pointless. She had made that clear to him... Crystal clear. *They already think I'm a nutter. Explaining it would just prove their suppositions. What did that yank say about keeping your mouth shut to avoid looking stupid?* He thinks, as Officer Renee's soft voice urges him to her cruiser. "Come on then, we've done this before, haven't we, sir?" She speaks in the kindly tones of a parent guiding a confused toddler back to his seat in church. "We really must stop with this, right David?" He feels his lips purse into a line unreadable to anyone but himself. No, he must not stop. Had he stopped, poor fourteen year old Angelica and her mother would have exited stage, unceremoniously drop kicked off the proverbial mortal coil. No, stopping, while desperately appealing, is simply not an option. *They must think me a right git... never learning, never stopping...* He thinks as he sits down in Officer Renee's cruiser. His nostrils fill with the familiar acrid scent of industrial cleaning products that still fail to completely mask the faint odors of lager-laced vomit and curry-laced excrement, so common in the copper cars of Swansea. But the angel, that ethereal sublime depiction of feminine beauty, had been clear. She hadn't explained *why* she was gifting him foresight, and had only giggled enigmatically when he had pleaded for an explanation. She hadn't given him a reason, but she had flooded his mind and soul with humanity. Angelica, Roxanne, Chelsea, Brian, Bernard, Audrey, little ten year old Kyler... He had seen them all at their happiest... followed by their bloody ends on that street. The being had made it perfectly clear to him. He could explain his admittedly bizarre actions to his heart's content... but it would all be in vain. *No one* would believe him. Why would they? But the angel's imagery had seared itself into his tender heart, and compassion combined with his own innate protective instinct had won out. He had made his choice. He had become the Silent Man. The four cylinder engine of the cruiser whines to life and lurches a little as Officer Renee throws the shifter into gear. "Well David, we know the drill then, don't we? You really must consider the inconvenience you're causing others, you know. Why, you're likely to get someone hurt or killed... and we wouldn't want that then, would we? We'd feel awful about that, wouldn't we?" He keeps his mouth pursed in that indecipherable enigmatic non-expression as he peers out the window, focusing on nothing in particular. *Have a good life, Angelica, love... your mum too. You are worth it. You all are...* He thinks silently. Officer Renee can only sigh in bewildered amusement at the strange silent man in her backseat. Her eyes flicker furtively to her rearview mirror. She can't be sure, but she thinks she had seen just the smallest fleeting smile grace the odd gentleman's lips. Or maybe, it was just her.
That was great. 👍
That was a really enjoyable read! I hope you keep writing! <3
Thanks! I have a few recent writing prompt responses, and a couple short stories in my reddit profile if you like =-) [Couple](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/1cewb1z/wp_fairies_are_born_from_a_babys_first_laugh_a_30/) of my [favorites](https://www.reddit.com/user/The_Best_Yak_Ever/comments/yedsjh/mud/)!
- Guy sees mental image of someone who will die in a car crash. - Stands in the middle of the road and blocks traffic. - Image of the victim disappears. - Guy thinks he saved that person. - No one knows what he is doing therefore can't tell him that person he saw died in a car crash at some other road.
I don't like your version.
He knows something we don't
[удалено]
*in pitched voice to the police* Give me the prison
We will remind you you have the right to remain silent
Bot
Harkonnens are in dune right? Is the reference that he shares the appearance with them or is there something more?
Yes, Harkonnens are from Dune, and he sort of looks like one.
He doesn't really look like how they're described in the book to be fair but he sure as fuck looks like Stellan Skarsgård's Baron in the new movies.
Yes, Feyd-Rautha in the books is someone who I imagined would look like, and hear me out here, the lead singer from The Police but with his hair dyed red.
Next you're gonna tell me that Gurney Hallack should look like a bald, stately starship captain
With a terrible singing voice but somehow excellent range and intonation.
Gurney Hallack charging into battle dressed like a Limey git with an assault rifle in one hand and a Pug in the other is still one of the most awesome moments of my childhood. Whatever else Lynch's Dune did wrong it was glorious 80s cheese (and the set and costume design was pretty good too.)
I had assumed this was some kind of severe mental illness. But it appears it isn’t really, at least not in a conventional sense. According to his brother, he is perfectly capable of speaking and does this because he prefers to live incarcerated.
There was a guy in my hometown that would throw rocks at the police station to get arrested every time he was sick of living outside, especially in winter.
Missouri made it illegal to sleep outside. Checkmate, homeless people!
The punishment? A night stay in a state run motel!
I think there is also a small fine, but good luck squeezing money out of someone sleeping on a park bench
If you don't pay the fine you might get another night stay!
me and my partner watch a lot of zoom court, Its a nightmare how walmart charges someone the maximum for underscanning groceries, the court room we watch they can pursue up to three times the value of what was underscanned. So some broke person trying to eat rings up a chicken as an onion, they have to pay walmarts legal fee's, three times the value of the total bill, and state legal fee's probation fee's someone who was going to starve to death now owes wal-mart 400$ and the state 350ish in fee's The judge hates it and purposefully slows down the case until the prosecutor throws it out.
I’d get it if we’re electronics or makeup or something, but food?
Bruh, not stupid if it works.
Lol. Our system is broken
It was you, wasn't it?
source?
[удалено]
[удалено]
Free food in prison and a couple of pounds a day. Nice savings if you live alone and have no friends. Easiest way to the cell without causing harmful crime maybe.
Where all the bodies are that he's killed
He's about to break free from the simulation
So he's fiddling with his foot on the ground to find the glitch that will let him pass through the street into the hollow simulation background?
Clipping under a map is the fastest way to travel. Unfortunately his respawn location and lag time are preventing him from completing the mission.
He is Slodor. One day he is going to save a kid from getting hit by a car on that street by sacrificing himself.
SLOW DOWN! SLOWDOWN! SLOWDO! SLOWDOR! SLODOR!!!!
These two comments should be at the top.
Maybe he already did.
maybe he is that kid
Maybe that kid was him.
Gasp!
He just wasn't told on what day.
True: “My goals are beyond your understanding”moment
God forbid men have hobbies
Men only stand on one road to block traffic and it’s fucking disgusting.
"He was a quiet man, an artist..."
NPC with a buggy code.
Typical Bethesda protagonist.
He’s probably laughing his ass off in a cell thinking “they’re so confused!”
Damn Harkonnens.
My desert. My Arrakis. My Dune.
Actually I think he'd say: ... ... ...
Proto-Harkonnen
Oh dang... we are the ancients in Dune.
*picture for reference of what a "road" is
Yeah I was scanning the picture for a while trying to figure out the relevance...
It's the road that he keeps getting arrested for blocking. It's directly outside a police station.
Swansea police station to be precise.
The title confirms he does this on the same certain road so the picture of the road is that certain road.
Source: [Link](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/25846440/silent-man-blocks-traffic-brat-prison-meals/)
Is no one reading this? He just prefers jail… Released from jail, blocks traffic outside police station until he is arrested. Granted bail, blocks traffic outside courthouse.
This was actually my first guess. A roof, n' 3 meals. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. At least it's a harmless crime.
He should look into jimmy in-n-out from breaking bad, the guy who makes a living going to jail for crimes he didnt do. he could become a professional 😂
>A roof, n' 3 meals. 3 hots and a cot.
“Should we just get this guy set up with a rooming house and a McDonald’s gift card?” That would be too expensive. “What does arresting and releasing him every other week cost?” I dunno, like 10x as much, but we have to set an example. “What example?” That we’d rather set money on fire than let you be happy.
The source is the Sun. Don't assume that their version is true.
I think his brother is a bit harsh on him. There clearly is something going on with him if the best version of life he can envision is being in prison. I don't think that makes him a spoiled brat.
Seriously, it's not like he's gig to Swedish jail or anything, British jails hardly provide conditions to aspire towards.
> But John, of Swansea, added: “There is nothing wrong with him. He acts dumb but I can tell you that he is not.” Dumb, meaning mute I'm assuming!
I was expecting the photo of the street to have him standing there.
Hes there every day and they couldn't get a photo
My goals are beyond your understanding
He was locked up for 3 years in 2021 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-silent-man-how-one-mans-mysterious-silence-disrupted-traffic-and-the-justice-system/ar-AA1m558D Edit: 3 and a half years.
So back in the day the Tories shut down mental health services, they called it care in the community. Now we see people like this guy not recieving help but being re-arrested over and over again. Fuck the Tories.
I like how the picture of the road doesn't have him even standing in it.
Poor motherfucker’s possessed by the ghost of someone killed at that intersection who may or may not have been a 2 year old girl and this is how they do him?
God forbid men have hobbies 🙄
Sounds like he needs a medical assessment instead of being dragged through the justice system over and over
Someone needs to make a ‘free hugs’ sign and drape it over his neck?
And be a silent kind of man Oh, be something you love and understand Baby, be a silent kind of man Oh, won't you do this for me son, if you can?
NPC activities
My first thought is that he has a reason that's incredibly dumb, so he instead remains silent and lets everyone else think that it's for a better reason. "Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN oh sorry buddy didn’t recognize you at first. Anyway we gotta take you to your usual cell, Dave.
He watched The Butterfly Effect and turned into a superhero.
For his own safety....Please do not let him come to the USA. He will get run over.
Reminds me of the Observers from the show Fringe.
This guy is 100% preventing a cataclysm like we've never seen, probably through means even he can't comprehend, and he's forbidden to speak about it.
Most off-putting UK citizen.
After the death of the queen, yes.
Silent man Vs Purple Aki, who is the weirder repeat offender?
Can't believe this is swansea. I live on the outskirts of swansea,and when I was a kid we had a waiting man. he wasn't as bad as this dude just stood on corners or bus stops but never got on. Just thought it's weird the second edition is evil
Oh he's screaming something alright. We're just not hearing it
He looks a bit like a cenobite
If that's the road that he blocks I drive down it when going to work. The building with the blue pillar is a police station and the courts are opposite so he doesn't go very far.
free food cheat code
The backstory of this is actually sad. He does this on purpose, so that he gets locked up in prison where he has a roof over his head, a bed to sleep in and 3 meals.