The Negotiating Claim

[Poison_Ivy]

Well, they were trying to "mainstream" him.....right? Maybe Bob talked to the principal after an incident or to help him get in a group of friends.

When I was in high school, I was in a group of students, elected by the teachers and principals, to make a difference with our classmates. We held events to try to get kids to talk to others by randomly placing them at lunch tables. Yeah, it sucked for the hour, but it was pretty beneficial overall. Maybe bob wanted something similar for his son. Because he couldn't really talk or be social, maybe the school could force something? Idk...obviously thinking way too much, but with Chris...it's hard to not do that.

 

[Marvin]

I'm guessing Barb kept it secret from Chris until he found out the truth. After the 3rd or 4th straight hour of "WHY, MOMMY, WHY" shrieked through his sobs, she finally got fed up and said "Look, kid, those friends were hired, so get over it already".

This is almost certainly how it happened.

 

[Thetan]

Out of the entire school video that statement made stuck out to me the most. Maybe it was just the wierd way he said it, with pauses as if he was either bitter about what he was saying, or was best thinking about how to word it (Or maybe just autism).

I think Alec's theory on it is a very plausible one. Chris was absolutely incapable of making friends, just like he is now, and Bob stepped in. He probably asked the administration to help Chris out in the friend department and that's how the Gal-pals were formed.

I said it before. What Bob may have done is created a sort of prototype for "Best Buddies" which pairs normal students with special ed kids. There are some incentives to participate, I suppose.

 

[pickleniggo]

Pretty much this. Maybe it was Bob's "negotiation" that got him the waterboy position on the basketball team as well?

I never thought of that. Chris doesn't seem the type to have wanted to fetch water and towels for JERKS on his own accord.

I said it before. What Bob may have done is created a sort of prototype for "Best Buddies" which pairs normal students with special ed kids. There are some incentives to participate, I suppose.

Well if you're going to babysit, you might as well get something for it. I wonder what the perks are besides making you look good to colleges.

 

[Billpalazzo-sama]

The resentment in Chris's voice as he said the word "negotiation" told me all I needed to know.

He just found out that Bob made people pretend to be his friends for him. And it stung like hell.

But wasn't the video recorded on the 28th of October? I.e. before that was revealed to him? Or was he lying about that?

He said that he finished work on the 25th, but there doesn't seem to be any indication of when it was filmed.

I'd say it's likely that it was filmed after receiving that gal-pal email; Given that there's an 11 day gap between completion of his project and the posting of the video, he probably spend more time procrastinating on filming it (or waiting for Barb to be available), but then uploaded it shortly afterward (which is less work and doesn't require cooperation from someone else).

 

[Overcast]

To me, the negotiating to make friends thing sounds really sad. Like you have to bribe people to make friends. At least that's what it sounds like.

 

[Picklepower]

Well I think that Tiffany and all them were agents that pretended to befriend Chris in order to keep his hopes up, they were in on the school boards conspiracy against Autistics, I'm guessing the did this with other Autists as well, they would put prescription drugs in Chris's food to test the drugs effects, as ordered by the principal. Hence why Chris is so messed up now.

 

[CatParty]

i don't think bob specifically asked the school to set him up with friends. he probably went to the principal and explained his son was special and he was trying to integrate him into normal high school life. and you know what, i bet chris's gal pals all put on their college applications that they helped with the special ed students because of this.

 

[Pikonic]

i bet chris's gal pals all put on their college applications that they helped with the special ed students because of this.

I don't think he was as bad as we think he was in high school. Yeah, he got teased, but, according to the gal pal email, most sped kids did. He didn't seem to be romantically interested at the time, so he was just special, not creepy.
Also no

 

[Picklepower]

Well there was that one time Barb bribed the elementary students to like Chris, with pizza.

 

[CatParty]

how bad is it that he still gets bullied after a pizza party?

 

[Pikonic]

He was in elementary school, it was probably "this kid's weeeiiiirrrdddd, hahahaha" as opposed to "this guys a total butthole! Lets get him" [insert a-log baby picture here]

 

[Picklepower]

Like many others have said, Chris probably got teased but didn't realize it was teasing. Like some bully might have said, "Wow Chris you look really good today, the ladies are gonna be all over you soon!" (in a sarcastic mocking voice), and Chris wouldn't have picked up on the sarcasm. Remember that one chat were the "fans" acted super impressed at Chris's jokes and sayings, and Chris didn't pick up on their obvious mocking?

 

[Fapcup]

Or he just completely blocked out the teasing. Chris's ability to deny and block aspects of reality he doesn't like, is almost at superhero levels.

When he looks in the mirror he sees an attractive, fit young man with girlish, sassy hair (and makeup!). That's some major mental Kung fu right there!

 

[darkhorse816]

The resentment in Chris's voice as he said the word "negotiation" told me all I needed to know.

He just found out that Bob made people pretend to be his friends for him. And it stung like hell.

Pretty much this. Maybe it was Bob's "negotiation" that got him the waterboy position on the basketball team as well?

Bob was an vet, engineer, inventor, and now an expert negotiator. I'm not being sarcastic. Bob did all those things, and he managed to make his son happy for a while. I wouldn't say he's the best father, but he did try to help Chris feel normal, and tried to get him out and to socialize. I think towards the end, he got tired, he was getting sicker, and gave up.

But real friendship isn't about negotiating. Real relationships aren't about negotiating. There is compromising. But negotiating is used for corporations, for contracts, for politics, for crises. Then again, Chris was going through a crisis. I'm just rambling here... Never post when you are buzzed.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

But negotiating is used for corporations, for contracts, for politics, for crises.

All of which are essentially qualities Chris thinks belong in friendships.

 

[Venusaur]

But real friendship isn't about negotiating. Real relationships aren't about negotiating. There is compromising. But negotiating is used for corporations, for contracts, for politics, for crises. Then again, Chris was going through a crisis. I'm just rambling here... Never post when you are buzzed.

Yeah that's the sad thing, Chris never seemed to be able to understand how to maintain relationships. It's only going to get worse now that he's an adult. Had he managed to form genuine friendships in highschool, he might have some adult friends now but he didn't. Chris at this point in time has nothing that he could offer to an adult in order to establish a good friendship. Just repeating his usual assortment of " I'm honest, caring, helpful and a good-listener." will no longer be enough to secure friends, specially since whe know what he really behaves like.

Perhaps he has a chance if he meets somebody equally or more dysfunctional that he is.

 

[alterid]

Yeah, I was in a group during high school called Peer Helpers. We were supposed to identify kids who were having social issues and reach out to them. We weren't supposed to do it in a super-obvious way and it was a very low-key, under-wraps type of organization but a lot of kids knew it existed. Our main thing was to have a few kids 'assigned' to each of us and keep an eye out for them in the hallways, chat with them when we were able, sit with them in the cafeteria if they looked lonely. That kind of thing. We weren't counselors or expected to do anything active about their behavior or problems but we were supposed to report back to the school counselor if we thought the kids needed extra attention.

There could very well have been a similar style thing going on at Chris' school and his 'gal-pals' could have been assigned to him similarly.