Could you share your thoughts on this weird teenager?

[Anonymous]

I'm originally from Vancouver, Canada. I'm a mother now, but back in 2013, I was a high school student. At the beginning of my grade 10 school year, there was a new boy who arrived at our school. He was 15 years old and he had just recently moved to Canada from Shanghai, China. Even though he had just recently arrived, his English was already very good because he received intense English tutoring in China. And I recently found out that he graduated from an ivy league university in America with a master's degree in computer science. So he is clearly a smart and motivated person. But I also found him to be a very weird person, and I have no idea what was going on in his mind. So hopefully you guys can share your thoughts after reading all the points down below.

1a) At the beginning of the school year, one of our teachers was telling us about what to do and how to escape if there's a fire in the classroom. Later, this boy asked me what will happen if there's a fire and you don't escape. And I said "Then I think you will die". And he had a shocked expression on his face and he said "WHAT! What do you mean by we will die?". And I said "Well, if there was a fire in your classroom in China, and you didn't escape, then wouldn't you also die?" And he said "yes, that's true", but for some reason, he still could not fully understand. So then I said "It's very unlikely to happen, so don't worry about it." But he was still confused.

1b) Later that school year, flight MH370 went missing. And I said to this boy "See? This flight going missing was something that was very unlikely. But it still happened and people died. That's why I told you not to worry about the classroom having a fire due to how unlikely it is." At this point, understanding finally dawned on him. It was as if he was having a paradigm shift or an epiphany. I cannot believe it took him so long to understand this.

2) I am Chinese myself, so I happen to know a thing or two about the worldwide Chinese community. So I told this boy that in France, there are Chinese people who speak perfect French without a hint of a foreign accent. And I also told him that in England, there are Chinese people who have perfect British accents. He was stunned and almost in disbelief when I told him these things. It was as if he was having an epiphany. But what I'm confused about is, he already knew that in Canada, there are Chinese people who have perfect Canadian accents. So I don't know why he was so stunned.

3a) One time, one of our male teachers lifted his shirt and scratched his skin. This boy and I, we both saw that the teacher's grey boxers were sticking out of his pants. This boy did not seem fazed or surprised by it at all. Later that class, he nonchalantly said "This teacher is wearing a grey pair of underwear, by the way." Now, please read point 3b down below.

3b) Later in the school year, one of our female classmates was wearing low rise jeans, the type of jeans that come up to her hips instead of her belly button. And she accidentally had her underwear slightly sticking out at the back. This boy noticed it and he freaked out. His face looked shocked. He even scanned around the room to see if anyone else had noticed. And from this day on, whenever he noticed a girl's underwear showing, he would look around to see if anyone else noticed. But he never did this if it was a boy or a male. It was as if he had an epiphany where he realized that women's underwear can also be visible.

3c) I went to China for vacations when I was a child and when I was a teenager. I saw women wearing low rise jeans all over the place, so there's no way this boy did not see this when he was growing up in Shanghai. And I also happen to know that in China, underwear being visible isn't a big deal, no matter which gender you are. So it's the same as in western countries. Which makes me even more confused.

[Anonymous]

LOL at this entire post. As someone who is also from Vancouver and CBC, he's not the weird one, OP. You are.

[Anonymous]

1) You seem to think you are smarter than this person, and I'd infer that you seem to think you're smarter than most people.

2a) You seem to not understand that cultural differences exist and/or how they impact social aspects of interaction, and you also seem to lack some empathy for people experiencing cultural immersion in a new place. See below for related idea.

2b) Your post strongly suggests you may be on the autism spectrum, which is not an insult at all, just an observation about the way you observe people and how you sort and interpret that information.

3) You are probably overusing the word "epiphany."

[Anonymous]

How am I the weird one?

[Anonymous]

OP was chinese kid who felt competitive with new chinese kid upstart and still obsesses years later. News at 11.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How am I the weird one?

Because you wrote this long post about some kid your high school you knew over 10 yrs go. That is bizarre. I cannot imagine thinking about something like this to the extent you did (and have been) and posting about it

[Anonymous]

Wtf did I just read

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1) You seem to think you are smarter than this person, and I'd infer that you seem to think you're smarter than most people.

2a) You seem to not understand that cultural differences exist and/or how they impact social aspects of interaction, and you also seem to lack some empathy for people experiencing cultural immersion in a new place. See below for related idea.

2b) Your post strongly suggests you may be on the autism spectrum, which is not an insult at all, just an observation about the way you observe people and how you sort and interpret that information.

3) You are probably overusing the word "epiphany."

I do wish DCUM people would stop thinking they can diagnose autism. It’s insulting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) You seem to think you are smarter than this person, and I'd infer that you seem to think you're smarter than most people.

2a) You seem to not understand that cultural differences exist and/or how they impact social aspects of interaction, and you also seem to lack some empathy for people experiencing cultural immersion in a new place. See below for related idea.

2b) Your post strongly suggests you may be on the autism spectrum, which is not an insult at all, just an observation about the way you observe people and how you sort and interpret that information.

3) You are probably overusing the word "epiphany."

I do wish DCUM people would stop thinking they can diagnose autism. It’s insulting.

PP here. I'm not doing that. I am suggesting that perhaps the OP isn't "weird" or deserving of insults because they are just thinking differently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wtf did I just read

Agree. OP you sound psycho

[Anonymous]

His brain works differently for whatever reason. So does yours. And then there are regular people.
You two hatch it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:His brain works differently for whatever reason. So does yours. And then there are regular people.
You two hatch it out.

+1
Neither one of them sound like regular people.

[Anonymous]

This is the weirdest thing that has ever been on dcum.

[Anonymous]

OP if you are under the care of a mental health professional, please check in with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) You seem to think you are smarter than this person, and I'd infer that you seem to think you're smarter than most people.

2a) You seem to not understand that cultural differences exist and/or how they impact social aspects of interaction, and you also seem to lack some empathy for people experiencing cultural immersion in a new place. See below for related idea.

2b) Your post strongly suggests you may be on the autism spectrum, which is not an insult at all, just an observation about the way you observe people and how you sort and interpret that information.

3) You are probably overusing the word "epiphany."

I do wish DCUM people would stop thinking they can diagnose autism. It’s insulting.

Ugh, right? There are a bunch of more likely issues especially bipolar mania or schizophrenia. Autism makes people socially awkward not delusional and fixated. What OP is showing is “ideas of reference,” where a person with a thought disorder believes that there are personalized messages revealed in events that are actually just random.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideas_and_delusions_of_reference