Subversion story: This Troper once participated in a ''Return to the TombOfHorrors'' module and his party was ''hell-bent'' on having everything and everyone who didn't attack them on sight join the team. That included most "informational" [=NPCs=], too, for example: the female medron Cyndia from the Tower in Health in Moil got conscripted as a secondary party healer; the Gustaeth the Head from the Tower of Tests was reincarnated as a badmouthing dwarf to become a PartyTank; Deverus, renamed to "Alexander", was saved from his petrified state to serve as our guide to the Fortress (though that was only possible thanks to our DM)... these are only the most prominent examples.

This troper worked at a pizza restaurant at the local food court, and nearly turned into an NPC. You get set in a particular pattern of phrases and responses, and when something occurs out of order that throws the pattern off, HilarityEnsues.

I can empathize with that. I worked telephone reservations for a dinner theater one summer. I got pretty good at adapting the script (yes, ''script'') to callers who liked to ask questions about everything and not let me finish.

Let's just say it's part of the job description for restaurant cashiers. And... hm. Does anyone else ever wonder if orchestrating a city-wide RealLife MMORPG would actually work?

This troper has noticed that when talking about their problems to a certain someone, they always reply with the phrase 'aww hug'.

Same with an old friend of mine, except her response was always ':<' instead. Meanwhile, I end up responding ':V' to a lot of things.

Similarly for being a badge-checker at an anime convention, especially if you hadn't intended to volunteer for the duty. The same questions every time. This troper got agonisingly bored very quickly. "Welcome to the Consuite! Can you show me your shiny thing?" "Is there rice?" "There's no rice yet, but it ought to be along shortly. Welcome to the Consuite! Can you show me your shiny thing?" "Hey, do you guys have rice?" (Eventually I decided to spice it up by running my mouth at total random, and eventually began something that was half-banter with an unwilling captive audience, and half audience participation. The shiny thing, in case you were wondering, is the holographic tape that identifies an actual badge versus a photocopy. By the way, people, please, no matter how hilarious it seems at the time, wear your badge on your shirt or somesuch. Not on your bra. Not down your pants. Not on your garter under your skirt. Jeez.)

I've seen this lampshaded once. A friend got roped into a volunteer by a JerkAss who kept extending her shift as a greeter. After a thirty minute job turned into ''over four hours,'' she took a sheet of paper, wrote "Welcome to the open house," "Bathrooms are down the hall to your left," "Refreshments are down those stairs, two left turns, and through the doors with the balloon arch," and "I don't know, check your map" on it, posted it, and went home.

Hilarious example experienced by this troper when playing Oblivion. [=NPCs=] regularily engage in conversations when visiting towns in the game, but for whatever reason, I found two men engaging in a conversation consisting in only the phrase "I don't know you, and I don't care to know you" being volleyed back and forth. This continued on for hours, with both proclaiming they had no interest in friendship with the other person. Thing is, why are would they be engaged in such a conversation for so long if they really meant what they said? ArtificialStupidity aside, it lead to a really good laugh for a quite some time forward.

This Troper regularly engages in this activity with his younger brother, usually just to see who can go the longest without cracking. #QUOTE#'''Brother:''' Hi! #QUOTE#'''Me:''' Hi. #QUOTE#'''Brother:''' Hi! #QUOTE#'''Me:''' Hi. #QUOTE#'''Brother:''' Hi! #QUOTE#'''Me:''' Hi. #QUOTE#'''Brother:''' Hi! #QUOTE#'''Me:''' Hi. #QUOTE#'''Brother:''' Hi! #QUOTE#'''Me:''' Hi. #QUOTE#'''Brother:''' Hi! #QUOTE#'''Me:''' Hi. #QUOTE#'''Brother:''' Hi! #QUOTE#'''Me:''' Hi. #QUOTE#'''Brother:''' Hi! #QUOTE#'''Me:''' Hi. #QUOTE#'''Brother:''' Hi! #QUOTE#'''Me:''' Hi. #QUOTE#'''Brother:''' Hi! #QUOTE#'''Me:''' Hi. #QUOTE#'''Brother:''' Hi! #QUOTE#'''Me:''' Hi. #QUOTE#'''Brother:'''*Stifling a laugh* Hi! #QUOTE#'''Me:''' Hi. #QUOTE#'''Brother:''' *Breaks down laughing*