Workout Tips
The man laughing with his friends at the end of the bar is wearing a conspicuous Panama hat, vaguely reminiscent of the one Hannibal Lecter wore in the final moments of 1991's Silence of the Lambs. I have no reason to believe that he's planning on eating anyone's face today, but I can't rule the possibility out all together.
I make a note of his presence and take another sip of beer.
At first glance, the L&L Tavern in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood is what one might refer to as an “old man bar.” Walking through the front door, you immediately smell the stench of history. History and urine. And maybe a little bleached-over vomit.
I haven't come here today to drink. I'm here looking for psychopaths. And, if I'm really lucky, maybe a serial killer.
Although the L&L Tavern may resemble the kind of common dive bars found in the hipster quarters of every major city, it is actually something more than that. It is an important piece of dark Americana.
Prominently displayed in the front window is a marker-scrawled sign that reads: “Creepiest bar in the USA.”
RELATED: The Coolest Bars in Amercia
This dubious honor, supposedly bestowed upon it by Google (the world's largest search engine knows its creepy bars, apparently), comes from the local legend that not one, but two of the country's most notorious serial killers used to frequent the place.
Those two serial killers are John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer. Between the two of them, they killed at least 50 people.
My reasoning today is that any bar capable of attracting two such customers might very well possess some ineffable malodorous quality that draws derangement toward it.
Have You Interacted with a Potential Killer Today?
We can be sure of one thing, the world isn't getting less crazy. According to a recent CNN report, many U.S. cities are experiencing frightening upswings in violent crime. The murder rate in Houston is up 45% since 2014. Milwaukee's homicides are up 103% since last year, Atlanta is up 52%.
Who's most likely to murder you? It could literally be anybody. The next South Carolina church shooter Dylann Storm Roof, or Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is out on the streets right now. And if you walked past him on your way to work, you probably wouldn't register that he was dangerous.
Dr. Arthur Lurigio, Ph.D., a Professor of Criminal Justice and Psychology at Loyola University in Chicago, tells me that psychopaths account for one of every hundred people you meet in the course of your day.
Only a fraction of our country's psychopathic population–“less than one-tenth of one percent of the population,” Lurigio says–will ever realize their darkest potential. “Serial killers probably represent an overwhelmingly small percentage of the general population,” Lurigio tells me. “There is absolutely no way to precisely estimate the number of uncaught serial killers. If we knew the number, we would have some idea of who the killers are, and some intelligence to help us catch them.”
One percent of the U.S. populace is 3,190,000 people. Even if one percent of one percent of those people were potential serial killers, that's still 319 budding Gacys and Dahmers sitting beside us on the bus and sharing rides in our apartment building elevators. It's kind of a sobering thought. Which is why I'm in this bar–to get a little un-sober and see if I can't maybe find a killer before one finds me.
(For more tricks and tips for getting the most out of life, pick up The Better Man Project, the new book by the Editor in Chief of Men's Health. It's the definitive guide to self-improvement, helping you become the man you're meant to be.)
The Tools for Finding a Psychopath
Unfortunately, the American Psychiatric Association does not currently recognize psychopathy as a psychological diagnosis, so I'm using Dr. Robert D. Hare's “psychopathy checklist” to try to pick out a potential killer from the L&L's patrons.
From my table over by the window–where Dahmer supposedly used to sit and scope the street for potential young male victims–I'm not noticing any blatant displays of “emotional shallowness,” “pathological lying,” “lack of realistic long-term goals” or “juvenile delinquency.”
I suppose one might count the Panama hat as indicating a “grandiose sense of self-worth” or “poor behavioral controls,” but that seems like a bit of a stretch. Plus, Panama hat dude just doesn't read as a psychopath to me. He seems too affable. In fact, he looks like a pretty fun guy. If I weren't busy hunting killers, I might be moved to try and enter his orbit.
But wait, what if that's the clue I'm looking for?
Serial Killers Are Fun to Be Around
Scanning the notes of a conversation I had with Lurigio a few days earlier, I find this bit of insight: “Many times, psychopaths are successful in hurting other people because they exhibit characteristics that most people find attractive,” Lurigio explained. “They'd be the person in the room that you might be attracted to, in the sense that you'd like to talk to them. They're extremely extroverted and friendly.”
So, the very fact that this hat guy seems like the kind of person I can trust means that he just might not be the kind of person I can trust. That clever bastard.
Now that I think about it, though, I remember Lurigio telling me that it would be extremely difficult for me, without years of training in psychology and criminology, to pick a psychopath out in a room.
(Not sure what defines someone as a psychopath? Go here to find out The Difference Between a Psychopath or a Sociopath.)
So, if I successfully pegged that hat guy as a psychopath that quickly, then he probably isn't a psychopath. I need to keep looking. But looking for what exactly?
What Does Obsession Look Like?
“Serial killers often feel driven, they're obsessed,” Lurigio explained to me. “They have some kind of characteristics of obsessive compulsive kind of behavior.”
So, what I'm feverishly searching the room for is some sort of predatory type person. Someone who has sufficient anti-social qualities to walk into a room full of strangers enjoying themselves and hunt down an individual who fits his twisted criteria. Someone with obsessive qualities. Someone with whom I might personally identify. Someone whom I'd never suspect.
I've not found this person yet. But I'm sure he's in this room. Or he will be soon enough. If I have to go back to that bar every night for the next year, I'll find him.
Unless, of course, he finds me first.
The post Could You Spot a Serial Killer in a Crowd? appeared first on Workout Tips.
http://ift.tt/1JW7Rb9
No comments:
Post a Comment