Random thoughts: stuck in there (true story)

 

I was waiting for my appointment, when an older man walked in and sat down two chairs to my right. Close behind him was a lady, that sat between us. I gave them both the head nod to imply hello, before they sat down. She returned it, while he did not

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The man did most of the talking, however he didn’t talk in structured sentences or a conversation. He would make statements and he would always start these statements with her first name. As far as l knew, all of his statements were random facts. He would rattle off two or so in a row. Then breath and she would say something like, “that’s nice John.” Then he would tell her a couple more.

 

Every now and again I said, “Wow, I didn’t know that.” Or “That’s cool.”

 

After saying that a couple of times he asked, “Who are YOU sir?”

 

I stood up and put my hand out, “Jim McDonald.”

 

He promptly stood up and shook my hand, “John David.”

 

We sat down and he told me some jokes. I believe he told me five jokes, every time saying Jim before each joke. Then he told me five more, before he said, “Jim, tell me a joke.”

 

I told him, “I’m no good at that, I can’t remember them.” He shrugged. I then said, “I remember one. What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t come back?” I waited a few seconds for his answer or for him to say ‘what’. He didn’t say a word, so I said, “ A stick.” That’s an old joke, but he must of laughed for ten seconds, then abruptly stopped.

 

I realized that he was a very smart man. His problem though, he can not interact in a back and forth conversation. Everything he said was a statement, no answers. I think he has all these memories stuck in his head and he can’t talk about them. All he can do is repeat them, probably over and over again.

 

I wonder if he is aware of this and the only way he can express his thoughts are by a fact close to what he wants to say. Or does he just randomly state facts. If he realizes his situation, then he’s stuck in there with all his thoughts and can’t share them with the world.