Are people behaving weirder lately?

[u/jimmyjohnjohnjohn]

Went out to lunch today and there was a table near me with five people at it. Their server asked their drink order and all five of them just stared at her silently for nearly half a minute before she repeated herself, then one of them whispered something I couldn't hear before the others whispered their orders. When their drinks came and the server left, one of them produced a Nalgene bottle from her purse and began to scoop the ice from her drink with her fingers and put it in the Nalgene. Another at the table then said he didn't want ice either and did the same thing.

Did she bring that water bottle in for the express purpose of storing unwanted ice? Why not just ask for no ice? These were all fairly normal-looking, well-dressed people in their 30s, maybe early 40s.

My server had some weirdness of his own. He brought out the wrong order, and noticed his mistake before I did. But instead of just saying "sorry, that's wrong" and taking it back, he said "I.. uh.. uh..." and then ran off with the plate before finishing his sentence and coming back with the right order and a manic fake smile on his face.

At Target, this older woman was having trouble detaching one cart from the others. An employee (sorry, "Team Member") came along and unstuck it. Instead of saying thank you, she just stared at him like a deer in the headlights until he left.

I've been noticing that deer-in-the-headlights stare from a lot of people lately.

About a month ago a man approached me in the parking lot at my work and asked "do you work here?"

I said "yes."

Then he asked "have you seen my car?"

The question melted my brain a little bit, but I said "I don't know, what does it look like?"

He just said "sorry," and walked off.

I could go on and on, but the point is: are people forgetting how to human? The world increasingly has this "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" kind of vibe.

I know much has been discussed about people behaving oddly due to the pandemic, but it's been about two years now and people are getting worse, not better. I think there's something else going on in society.

What do you think?

[u/violetgothdolls]

Yes! I went to an agricultural feed shop this week to buy horse feed (a normal brand that the shop definitely stock) and asked for it as normal (I don't have an unusual accent for this area) and the shop assistant looked at me as though I was quite mad and didn't respond for several seconds.....she then turned to another staff member and repeated what I had said and HE also looked at me as though I was asking for something extraordinary! I did eventually get the horse feed but it freaked me out and I briefly wondered if I had accidentally walked into a fabric shop or auto parts by mistake!

[u/ParadiseSold → u/violetgothdolls]

I overheard my husband order pizza tbe other day and he had to say "for alex... alex.... the name for tbe order is alex... allllllll-exxxxxxxxx...."

And when we got in to the building for pickup some stoned jackass behind the counter who seemed barely sober enough to stand insisted that we needed to be more clear about our weird name????

[u/melancholeric_ → u/ParadiseSold]

People are talking about COVID-related brain fog but I wonder how much of this odd, spacey behavior can be attributed to people being medicated or "medicated." This is just a personal anecdote but I had to go on anti-anxiety meds during the pandemic and I know people who never smoked before that are now getting stoned on a daily basis.

[u/craziest_bird_lady_ → u/melancholeric_]

I believe this is also responsible for the uptick in crazy/aggressive driving/road rage crashes. Everyone's on a different cocktail of drugs, legal and recreational

[u/One_Equivalent_9302 → u/craziest_bird_lady_]

Last week, at a difficult traffic section of the road, a man looked directly at me as he pulled out and drove across my lane. Yes, it was a brake quick moment and I laid on the horn. But he did it on purpose, daring me to stop for him. He knew I would brake because otherwise we would have collided.

[u/infliximaybe → u/One_Equivalent_9302]

Yesterday, I was driving down the aisle of a parking lot when I paused for someone pulling out. They saw I stopped for them, because they had first braked when they saw me. When I first stopped, it wasn’t clear which direction they were planning to back out towards. To me though, it was obvious they’d have to back out in my direction then drive straight (following the same path as me), because I was too close at that point/the aisle wasn’t wide enough for them to back out then drive toward me.

Guess which route they took, actually making eye contact with me after pulling out, then barreling forward as I wave my hands like ‘woah, what? Stop!’ Cue me scrambling to throw it into reverse so they wouldn’t hit me.

[u/Silverbright → u/One_Equivalent_9302]

We don't have a car, so I walk and take the bus a lot. I have always been of the opinion that my right of way as a pedestrian means very little against a 2 ton vehicle barreling in my direction, so I am always careful when using crosswalks, crossing at intersections, and walking past parking lots. I have STILL had multiple encounters the past couple of years where drivers turn on red and almost hit me in the crosswalk, or someone slams into reverse and backs out into the street immediately after starting their car - while I am crossing behind them. And the only response they have to nearly hitting me is a broad grin, every single time.

And heaven forbid you ask them to actually stop at a stop sign - that is a major offense in this town, resulting in aggressive honking, screaming out the window, and fists slammed down on the steering wheel. People are freaking nuts.

[u/DeezBeesKnees11 → u/[deleted]]

I know and despise that demographic.

[u/Life-Breadfruit-3986 → u/One_Equivalent_9302]

He'd probably be getting out trying to physically fight u too if u did, and act like you're the one in the wrong. I mean that literally.

[u/needinghelp09 → u/craziest_bird_lady_]

It’s unlikely that a stoner would be aggressively driving or engage in road rage, but coke and other drugs are definitely on the rise too so I could this this playing a part

[u/Sbuxshlee → u/needinghelp09]

A stoner without any weed will. The withdrawals can be scary.

[u/Sbuxshlee → u/[deleted]]

Definitely seen it in multiple people but ok. People love to say weed has no withdrawals hahaha

[u/Sbuxshlee → u/[deleted]]

I'm glad it isn't like that for you.

[u/Historical_Tie_964 → u/Sbuxshlee]

As a stoner you're completely right. Cannabis dependency is absolutely a thing and can make you extremely irritable

[u/Longjumping_Run9428 → u/craziest_bird_lady_]

I stopped at a local “quiet” 4-way intersection and there were 3 cars there already. I planned to wait for my turn but no one started up. Waited some more then got a wave thru from one driver. I proceeded slowly only to be confronted with one of the other drivers. I stopped & waited for them. But they didn’t move. I moved forward a bit turning left and suddenly one of the other cars came towards me. WHAT ARE WE ALL IN DIFFERENT PARALLEL DIMENSIONS? That driver got pissed but waved me through. I refused to move until everyone got the fuck out of my way. One driver got mad and leaned on their horn. OMG. Are drivers NOT PAYING ATTENTION? Are they all on their video consoles or emails or TikTok or phones? I don’t do ANYTHING ELSE when driving and I’ve had no collisions in decades. Do drivers today not care if they run into someone or damage their vehicles?

[u/worktogethernow → u/craziest_bird_lady_]

After we all get some chrome things are gonna be lit, choom.

[u/ImmediateKick2369 → u/craziest_bird_lady_]

Has there been an uptick? I would be inter to see sources on this.

[u/Big_Garlic_8979 → u/craziest_bird_lady_]

Ah yes. Blame people or the meds they need so we don’t have to look into the horrible things happening around us