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Complex Numbers #1062329 added January 13, 2024 at 10:56am
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Original Syndrome
This Atlas Obscura article (apparently from a writer at Big Think, which I've also sourced here) has been taunting me for a long time, waiting for its number to come up. Today, it finally did.
I'd expect there to be a lot more than 10, but maybe there are. "At least" covers a lot of numerical territory.
Everybody knows Stockholm Syndrome, when hostages develop an attachment to their captors.
Like most things "everybody knows," there's doubt that this even exists  in the way they think it does.
But who knows its two opposites? Lima Syndrome is when the hostage takers start sympathizing with the hostages.
I mean, that makes sense. It's the inverse of Stockholm Syndrome, and it's kind of on the other side of the planet, hence the inversion.
And London Syndrome is when hostages become argumentative toward their captors—often with deadly results.
What are they going to do, kill us? Then they won't have hostages as leverage.
In all, ten cities around the world carry a unique burden: they have a psychological disorder named after them.
I don't need to rehash all of them here. Really, I just have one quibble (apart from questioning whether Stockholm Syndrome is really a thing):
Brooklyn Syndrome
...cities where, due to specific cultural circumstances, the male persona naturally gravitates toward being overly argumentative or personally combative.
It is simultaneously hilarious that they picked Brooklyn as the archetype for this kind of thing, and sad because Brooklyn isn't a city, but part of New York. Hey! I'm walkin' heah!
Instead, I wanted to propose other disorders named after cities. In no particular order.
Albuquerque Ailment: That nagging feeling that you shouldn't have taken that last turn.
Chicago Croup: A perverse desire to be someplace cold and windy.
Seattle Syndrome: The feeling that it really ought to be raining.
Montréal Malaise: Not knowing enough of the local language to carry on a conversation, but just enough to know when they're calling you names.
San Francisco Flu: Being too hot when the temperature climbs above 60F.
Washington Woozies: When someone drags you into an unwelcome political conversation.
...yeah, I know those are all in North America. It's not like I spend weeks refining my jokes. If you have suggestions for other cities, please feel free to add below. |
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