serving the crazy

about a week after the other emails were all sent out, we got another one, which started a whole new round of drama.

From: JL
To: MS2011, MS2010, MS2009, MS2008
Subject: insanity

I know I said I would not email again, but when has my word ever been good for anything? That’s the kind of person you are dealing with. I’ve been good about not holding a grudge and ignored the names on emails sent my way. Some of you may have seen me on the wards and thought “that guy doesn’t look so tough.” The question you really should ask is if you should mess with someone who has nothing to lose. Listen, believe it or not, I actually have multiple degrees and talents and don’t need this too bad. They’ve already sent me away once. I’ve now been to the most miserable places around the world and befriended the scum of the earth, some of whom have considerable skills in technology. So I don’t want to hear about how your daddy worked hard for what you have or how you couldn’t drive a beamer like the kids crosstown. Believe me, this won’t be high school where everybody’s trying to pull us away from each other. So if you think you can take a little scrape here or there, then you should ask if it is worth it to have to go home to your big-time surgeon daddy over Christmas and tell him how they expelled you because you got into a tiff with some angry kid you didn’t even know. So you can tell me or my friends how we are such scum (its probably true). But don’t be telling nobody they can’t do this or that, be looking at us funny on the wards, in fact look the other way if you see us, don’t be breaking our mailboxes with funny computer programs, and don’t be hiding behind some stupid anonymous profile. If you don’t know who I am so you can stay away, then find out fast and find out whom my friends are too and watch out for them and find out who anybody else who might have had even just a pleasant conversation with me on rotations this year too.

ok, the subject wasn't really insanity, but I lost the actual email so I don't know what the subject was. however, the text did deal mostly with insanity and scariness so I think the subject heading was appropriate. later on that day we received several updates from the administration that an "email action team" had been formed (on a Sunday afternoon!) to address the situation of the crazy patient. I actually just wrote "patient" on accident, as J is a student, but as he may soon be a patient of the psych ward I'm going to leave it in because it's kind of funny that my fingers automatically typed it.
The following is an analysis of the crazy.

when has my word ever been good for anything? That’s the kind of person you are dealing with. By this Mr. L wants us to know that he is ape-shit crazy and you can't trust anything he says. He imagines this image of himself to be intimidating, and picturing himself as an intimidating force is soothing to Mr. L.
Some of you may have seen me on the wards and thought “that guy doesn’t look so tough.” Infers that he really is so tough.
The question you really should ask is if you should mess with someone who has nothing to lose. The words "nothing to lose" suggest that Mr. L sees himself as an outlaw, a rogue agent, a man who is willing to do ANYTHING to work toward his ultimate goal (of...?) and will not allow anyone to stand in his way. Kind of like Harrison Ford in "The Fugitive". Also, it denotes poor situation analysis skills, as Mr. L is currently in medical school and has (on paper) a lot going for him.
I actually have multiple degrees and talents and don’t need this too bad. Mr. L isn't doing medicine because he has to, he does it because he chooses to. His other talents include playing the clarinet and being able to type 80 wpm. He can also tie shoelaces with his toes, which would be more useful if you weren't actually covering your toes with shoes before you tie them.
They’ve already sent me away once. to the psych ward.
I’ve now been to the most miserable places around the world and befriended the scum of the earth, some of whom have considerable skills in technology. He knows this other guy in the psych ward who knew how to beat super mario brothers in 3.5 minutes by using a secret key code that only he knew about. Also, one of his friends from junior high once opened his sister's locked diary using a paper clip.
So I don’t want to hear about how your daddy worked hard for what you have or how you couldn’t drive a beamer like the kids crosstown. He's too important for your problems. And he can't spell "beemer".
you should ask if it is worth it to have to go home to your big-time surgeon daddy over Christmas and tell him how they expelled you because you got into a tiff with some angry kid you didn’t even know. He is bad at surgery and therefore jealous of surgeons. He also has delusions of power (ie that the administration will expel a student if Mr. L asks them to).
If you don’t know who I am so you can stay away, then find out fast Because he's an unpredictable outlaw and he knows people with lock-picking skills.
and find out whom my friends are too and watch out for them He has friends. His friends are also crazy and may stab you with a hemostat. It's like a med school gang. They're called the HoSpiTaLiZers, and their color is death.

I'm not sure what the powers at our school have done with this kid, but three strikes seems kind of overly lenient when someone is that unstable. The idea that this person could one day be in charge of other people's lives is absolutely frightening. Also frightening: the week before this email was sent out, there was a bomb threat on North campus. I suspect that the timing was not a coincidence.