Crazy Drunk Guy.

July 28, 2000 1:24 PM

Crazy Drunk Guy. Hilarious. Web developer shares RealAudio recordings of an unknown, crazy (but entertaining) drunk guy who keeps calling him at the office to chat. An example of the miracle of the web, that he is able to share this with the world...
posted by Tubes (19 comments total)

Was he drunk enough to post a topic on MeFi twice?
posted by deckard at 1:39 PM on July 28, 2000

Yeah, oops, browser hangup caused that... wish I could've retracted one...
posted by Tubes at 2:35 PM on July 28, 2000

Hey, it's Jeff - the guy who made the page (and the recordings of CDG). Just wanted to say you have a great site here; keep up the good work... and thanks to all those who have experienced the magic of Crazy Drunk Guy.
posted by jeffboyd at 3:13 PM on July 28, 2000

Yep - the web is a great place isn't it - a great place for people to get their kicks mocking the less fortunate...

Let me see.....someone in obvious need of some sort of help keeps calling me...mentally ill, and likely homeless, and I, being the compassionate type, will *tape his calls and post them to the web for people to laugh at*.

Because everyone knows it isn't enough to just laugh at the mentally ill in the privacy of one's own office - oh, no - it is far, far funnier to tape them and then share it with a potential audience of millions on the web.

Now that is the true miracle of the web, isn't it? That we all get to sit here and laugh at the mentally ill.
posted by kristin at 3:25 PM on July 28, 2000

Um yes we are actually celebrating mental illness. Viva le diff'rence! Right.
posted by EngineBeak at 3:37 PM on July 28, 2000

Good lord, everything is funny except child abuse, rape, and Lincoln's assasination. It's a natural reaction, if every crisis and misfortune in life were taken with the seriosness it 'deserved' life would be a pit of despair.

Lighten up and smile, it will recharge your batteries so you can continue to fight the good fight (it would be even funnier if the drunk was fat too).
posted by Mick at 3:38 PM on July 28, 2000

What a great prank this would be. Pick a random business-guy and call him up every few days. Don't be too belligerent, just weird. Try to form some type of relationship.

BTW Mick: I've heard Lincoln jokes that were funny, though I don't recall them at the moment. The other two aren't funny. Well, except I do remember some "little johnny" jokes...
posted by frykitty at 3:48 PM on July 28, 2000

Gee, kristin, most people would probably try to get the CDG arrested for harrassment.

Jeff is making the guy happy by listening to him ramble, and hurting no one by posting the audio files. Would you rather he just hung up on him?

Besides, who says the guy needs help? Who says this guy isn't a comfortable retiree who just happens to think it's funny to get drunk and call up a stranger from a pay phone? And if he is homeless and mentally ill, what do you want *Jeff* to do about it? Is Jeff supposed to take the guy to a shelter? What if the guy doesn't WANT to be in a shelter? Is Jeff supposed to feed and house him? One person is no substitute for a social safety net.

Everyone who lives in a city and deals with panhandlers on a daily basis can identify with what Jeff's doing. Like Mick says, you can't cry for everyone's misfortune, and sometimes, you just have to laugh.
posted by wiremommy at 4:19 PM on July 28, 2000

i used to work at a television station that received no less than 15 calls a day from "t-man" (transmitter man). "t-man" was a 45 year old schizophrenic with an obsession with television. he called to report that nazi airplanes were flying around our transmitter (which was located in another state, btw), to chat with the female on-air personalities, to tell us he saw the kit car, and to let us know that "razor-blade man" was tormenting him again.

our gm didn't like him calling, so we gave him the direct numbers to most of the people he liked to talk to. the first thing we did to a new person was to tell them they had a call. they would look surprised since it was the first hour of their first day. then they would pick up the phone and there would be the inevitable, "uh...how you doin'?" from "t-man". the rest of us would laugh and explain. his real name was marvin.

we had a lot of fun at "t-man"'s expense, but we also named our softball team after him and one of us would always go to his home to take him to the games. we gave him and his girlfriend "exclusive" tours of the station after hours, and we always talked to him when he called. one of our sports guys went as far as to do a mock story on him so he could have a video tape of himself.

i agree with wiremommy. sometimes it's best to see the light side of a situation. plus, it's jeff's life and his experience and he can share it anyway he wants to.
posted by centrs at 4:33 PM on July 28, 2000

I hardly intended to make light of Crazy Drunk Guy's situation by creating the page. I merely felt compelled to share some of his profound knowledge about robots, Swiss cheese, and David Lee Roth with the rest of the world. It's important that people know about this stuff.

If, instead of being entertained by the site you are somehow offended instead, I humbly offer my condolences. Apparently, you have yet to learn that sometimes crazy people can be pretty damn funny.




posted by jeffboyd at 4:35 PM on July 28, 2000

It kinda sounds to me like Jeff was making him happier by talking to him.
posted by EssenDreck at 5:06 PM on July 28, 2000

Well, I was offended only by the fact that I couldn't listen to the audio because it requires a piece of closed, proprietary corporate spyware.
posted by quonsar at 8:29 AM on July 29, 2000

I think Jeff is making CDG happy by listening. Since CDG is calling from a payphone, it's hard to track him, therefore it would be near impossible to help him, even if he did need help. Jeff is doing what he can from the position he is in, which is simply listen.

Besides, no one really knows who the CDG is. It could be that he's fully aware that he is online. Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps we will never know....
posted by elf_baby at 11:31 AM on July 29, 2000

Oh, btw, in the play I'm currently in, my character is crazy. Completely batty. And it's a damn funny play too. Some things are just plain funny. Sometimes, if they're not a danger to themselves or others (unless they are a danger to others in a particularly interesting or bizarre way), us crazy folk are very amusing. So yay, Jeff!
posted by elf_baby at 11:37 AM on July 29, 2000

As a follow up to Elf's comment, I'll voice this opinion:

You can't offend a *group*.

You might offend some individual person, if they're a member of that group, and they have a thin skin, but you can't offend the whole group, if for no other reason than that it's bigger than you are.

And, while this being a grownup shit ain't easy, I figure, if you're offended by something someone says about you, either they're wrong, and you should ignore them with dignity... or they're right, and you should fix it (assuming you can, and unlike "mentally ill", you *can* fix "drunk").

And being offended for someone else, by proxy? Get over it.

Who appointed *you* ghod?
posted by baylink at 11:53 AM on July 29, 2000

You want a funny play about the mentally retarded, that also manages to show humanity? Try reading Tom Griffin's "The Boys Next Door".
posted by Awol at 2:32 AM on July 30, 2000

Quonsar,

I hear ya. Just say no to Realaudio. I wouldn't taint my system with such crap.
posted by john at 12:23 PM on July 31, 2000