Once upon a time a few days ago, I decided I'd bring some cookies to work and give them away. I thought it would be a nice thing to do, but moreover I thought it would be a cheap way to buy some stock with people and to meet people I haven't met before. After all, free cookies: what could possibly be wrong with that?
Well, once again, I was surprised at just how naive I am to the ways of the neurotypical. Of course, if I had been following the fundamental sociological principle of my own invention called GHS, or General Human Shittiness, I might've predicted the results of my cookie giveaway.
I wasn't meaning a free cookie giveaway as a sociological experiment, but it turned into one. I learned a great deal about people for the price of a few dozen cookies. First, everybody who knew me took a cookie. I never actually witnessed anyone eating the cookies, but they accepted them. Second, not a single person I didn't know took a cookie. I can infer a few things from this:
First, it's not about the cookies. At all. People were taking them to be polite. Those who didn't know me either felt no obligation to be polite or did not trust that my cookies were good or otherwise harmless.
But perhaps the most fascinating and humorous result of giving away free frickin cookies was how many insults I got. I mean, wow, just wow. How ****** of a person do you need to be to insult someone who offers you free cookies? Of course, if I had been following GHS, I would've expected a solid HALF of the people to whom I offered cookies to make some sort of assault against my ego. Still, 50% is a pretty impressive figure.
There was ONE and only ONE exception: the smartest person in the building. When I offered her cookies, she didn't hesitate for a second. She lit up, took two cookies, and devoured them both in front of me immediately. For her, for the most worthy human specimen there, the cookies were just cookies, to be accepted and enjoyed. Absolutely fascinating.
I may attempt the same thing with things other than cookies, such as pebbles and rubies, to have some data to compare against. There isn't a damn thing scientific about anything I'm doing, but my God do I love stirring the pot just to see what happens. Maybe I am a sociopath after all
Well, once again, I was surprised at just how naive I am to the ways of the neurotypical. Of course, if I had been following the fundamental sociological principle of my own invention called GHS, or General Human Shittiness, I might've predicted the results of my cookie giveaway.
I wasn't meaning a free cookie giveaway as a sociological experiment, but it turned into one. I learned a great deal about people for the price of a few dozen cookies. First, everybody who knew me took a cookie. I never actually witnessed anyone eating the cookies, but they accepted them. Second, not a single person I didn't know took a cookie. I can infer a few things from this:
First, it's not about the cookies. At all. People were taking them to be polite. Those who didn't know me either felt no obligation to be polite or did not trust that my cookies were good or otherwise harmless.
But perhaps the most fascinating and humorous result of giving away free frickin cookies was how many insults I got. I mean, wow, just wow. How ****** of a person do you need to be to insult someone who offers you free cookies? Of course, if I had been following GHS, I would've expected a solid HALF of the people to whom I offered cookies to make some sort of assault against my ego. Still, 50% is a pretty impressive figure.
There was ONE and only ONE exception: the smartest person in the building. When I offered her cookies, she didn't hesitate for a second. She lit up, took two cookies, and devoured them both in front of me immediately. For her, for the most worthy human specimen there, the cookies were just cookies, to be accepted and enjoyed. Absolutely fascinating.
I may attempt the same thing with things other than cookies, such as pebbles and rubies, to have some data to compare against. There isn't a damn thing scientific about anything I'm doing, but my God do I love stirring the pot just to see what happens. Maybe I am a sociopath after all
