The Harmless Weirdo
By At first, you think the Harmless Weirdo is adorably eccentric, offbeat, and intelligent–an iconoclast, really. Yes, he has a few unusual quirks and mannerisms, but he’s no boring, cookie-cutter frat boy. In short, he’s totally unlike any other man you’ve ever dated, which strikes you as a good thing.
Your view changes, radically, the evening you proudly introduce him to your friends. In front of everyone you know, your new suitor relates an anecdote about a bus trip he once took that goes on forever and has no apparent pont. THen, when the conversation turns to politics, he hijacks it, launching into a long, unstoppable tirade about the unacknowledged link between diet soda and brain damage. In a moment of sickening clarity, you become aware that you are dating a deeply odd individual. He’s the nerd from chemistry class, traveling incognito thanks to a pair of chinos from the GAP.
Moments after this revelation, you put dumping him on the top of your to-do list. But the Harmless Weirdo isn’t exactly attuned to social clues and fundamentally doesn’t understand he’s being ditched. Long after you’ve shown him the door, he’ll still call and drop by with no warning, as though nothing has changed. Although he’s not physically threatening, psychologically, he’s a menace. He’s a reminder that at times, your judgement can be very poor, indeed.