By Basil (original post)

One of the frequent guests has a habit of tapping on things; the bar when he's drinking, the table if he's in the restaurant, the railing as he goes up/down stairs, etc. He's not loud; in fact he does so rather softly. If asked to stop or complained to, he'll be embarrassed, apologize, and stop—for a few minutes. If complained to repeatedly he'll go so far as to stick his hands in his pockets—only to start “tapping” his side in a few minutes.

It's not the tapping per se that's the problem. The thing that irritates people, even upsetting the more sensitive is that as soon as a listener catches the rhythm of the tapping, The Tapper changes rhythms; he may be doing a slow 4/4 time piece, then switch to a fast, highly syncopated 3/4. No matter how “flexible” the listener's musical taste may be, The Tapper always seems to find something that throws the listener; 5-against-7 polyrhythm, 14-beat Middle Eastern stuff, etc. He never goes so far as to be actually a-rhythmic, but sometimes he gets awfully close.

The longer you listen to him, the worse it gets. If some have tried to stick it out too long, and have become violent, or worse.

Back to creepy_hotel