The Starbucks 'Main Character' Tweet That's Blazing The Internet
The internet invents a lot of strange things. OMG Laser Guns Pew Pew Pew, for example. In addition to odd browser games with squirrels, every so often there are new purported psychological effects that seem to arise out of social media. Consider nomophobia, which Healthline says is the fear of losing your phone. The Decision Lab discusses the "Google effect" where information is instantly forgotten. Then there's "main character syndrome," which Insider says isn't a medical condition, but a self-absorbed outlook.
In "main character syndrome" the sufferer believes that they are the main character of a fictional narrative. They then often try to act out that narrative through their social media accounts. This is marginally different from how most of us behave. While very few people tell the whole truth on social media, most people present some version of themselves, according to Psychology Today. We are somewhat honest, and recognize that we're part of a greater whole, not the hero or protagonist of some grand story. Unless we're Hiro Protagonist from "Snow Crash." Then we are both.
Though there are people who think they're the center of the universe — perhaps Gordon Ramsay comes to mind — and all of us might, hopefully, feel like the main character in our own lives, it's rare that the world aligns to make someone truly feel as if the world is built just for them. That's what one Twitter user experienced by proxy at a Starbucks.
A man walks out of a Starbucks, so the story goes, and literally everyone says 'goodbye' to him
Though we can all feel like the core character of our own story, we can also feel like we're merely a bit player in a grand narrative. Imagine that you are going through the motions, learning to cook the perfect steak, only to find out that you were designed to be a background part of someone else's story. That they are the main character. Someone on Twitter had that exact experience.
"Dude at Starbucks just left the crowded store and went 'Bye everyone,'" the tweet, "and every single person in that store said goodbye I literally just met the main character." Though she doesn't explain where she was, it seems that she has located the person all of this nonsense is about. She did follow up with a description of the "main character" which is, "16 year old kid with a backpack on who walked away on his toes."
Many people replied with similar stories, including one tweeter who said one of the secrets behind Starbucks success is that they're gathering places and if the "store has good relations" then people will become very nice. "A lot of ppl in my store are really friends," they concluded. So, being the "main character" might just mean hanging around your local Starbucks more.