The Surprising Transformation of a High School Buddy
This isn’t exactly a response to your question, but it is really interesting. This story involves a wacko who made a significant transformation and then went right back to being a wacko.
John and Bill's Journey
This is a tale of two friends, John and Bill, from high school days. John, while intelligent, was extremely awkward around people, especially girls. He had an on-and-off girlfriend named Mary (not her real name, of course). John, ever the multitasker, would often ask, “Will you go with me? ” ?which in high school language meant, “Will you be my monogamous girlfriend even though we will only be kissing... Maybe you'll let me touch your breasts occasionally... maybe we will go all the way someday... ?but for now, I can brag to the others that YOU are my girlfriend!”
One day, John approached Mary with this request. She misunderstood and humorously accepted, thinking he was being playful. But John took her acceptance seriously and began bragging about her to his friends, which only caused confusion and frustration. Consequently, another friend stepped in to inform John that Mary was only kidding and that there was no intention of going out with him. John's heart was broken, and the conversation became a significant moment of awkwardness.
From Disappointment to Transformation
Fast forward to the second year of college, John and I were attending the same west coast school while Mary was at a school in Wisconsin. During Christmas break, John wrote a detailed letter to me requesting that I clean out his dorm room and send him his belongings via Greyhound. The letter listed every item in his room, emphasizing that he wanted me to take his Top Ramen, peanut butter, dish soap, bath towel, toothbrush, and toothpaste, and return all his clothes, clean and dirty, as well as his books, records, and tapes. John had arranged to drop out of college, but he still had the secret of leaving to live with his parents in Montana to keep to himself for 48 years. This confirmed that he was a confirmed wacko.
Fast forward another 10 years. John had completed his studies. He was working as a city bus driver and was making a name for himself by impersonating Bill Gates. Bill even hired him to help divert paparazzi, and Weird Al Yankovic asked him to star in one of his videos. John was so well-known that he was flown to Tokyo to take part in Japanese beer commercials. From this point, he was on top of the world, and for a confirmed wacko, he had truly transformed himself for the good.
A Second Transformation and Challenges
However, life had other plans for John. Melinda, a person from his past, got involved with Bill and influenced him to change his lifestyle. Noticeably, Bill started to lose weight and exercise, becoming more like Arnold Schwarzenegger. But John, still immersed in the world of junk food and city life, was having the time of his life, living the life of a bus driver. He wasn't dating anyone and had never dated anyone in his life. John's life took another dramatic turn when he began drinking heavily and purchasing urine for his drug tests at work, which significantly shortened his career as a bus driver. He became depressed that he no longer looked like Bill, but he still sounded like him.
In the final scene, I saw John at a diner where bus drivers spend the night. He told me he was sick and not coming out of the bathroom, so I should just leave and he would pay for my meal. It turned out he was experiencing the DTs on the diner's toilet. Eventually, the bus company fired him, and he ended up on welfare.
Lessons and Morals
Was this an answer to your question? Perhaps, it could serve as a warning that when you are being paid to impersonate the richest man in the world, it's a fleeting fortune if you haven't found your 'Melinda.' Or maybe the moral of the story is that there is always someone in the background, like Melinda, who can steer a wacko back on the path of transformation. Or perhaps drinking and driving, especially while driving in circles, is a risky behavior to exhibit, especially if you are driving a bus and becoming a wacko.