... for their signatures? My teacher wants to teach the shy kids how to get out of their comfort zones or something and wants us to get random strangers to sign a piece of notebook paper. To me, that's just plain creepy... it's not like I'm trying to get signatures for a petition or something meaningful, I'm just asking people to sign their names over to me.

Am I being overly paranoid or weird about this? Would you sign a piece of paper for someone if they said it was for school? (I'm in college for those who don't know.) Personally, I would never do it, so I have a hard time asking someone else to.

Nope, I wouldn't do it purely for personal security reasons, if they know your signature maybe they would use it to get your bank details or something. Obviously it might be a different case with students doing it but I think that probably is a little creepy.

Couldn't the task be asking questionnaires to people instead?

If you feel wierd about this, ask your teacher if you could come up with a question to which the stranger must write down an answer on your notepad. Seems like a reasonable compromise?

Sure, anything to feel like I http://i3.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/003/619/Untitled-1.jpg

no its good practice

I would be weirded out if there wasn't a reason given to get my signature. Is there any way you can ask a question, or support a cause?

The teacher should've asked for initials instead, a signature might seem too suspicious to some.

Yeah, that's a pretty stupid assignment. There are hundreds of ways to break shyness, and this certainly isn't among the good ones.

It's not creepy to make idle conversation with a stranger if you're, say, waiting in a line together or something, but asking for their signatures just seems dodgy.

Edit: Naxos, for some reason, until you made this thread, I always thought you were a 30 year old man.

Edit 2: Also, this isn't to say I wouldn't do the assignment, but then again I'm definitely not shy to begin with, so I wouldn't get the assignment. Just literally walk up to someone and tell them what you're up to.

I'd say "Hey there, I have this class assignment where I'm supposed to get a bunch of signatures from random people. It's like some sort of social experiment thing, you know? So, could I have yours?"

If it doesn't work, who cares? There are other people around to ask. Change your wording around to make it more comfortable for you. Saying something like "Erm... um... sign... this... please..." while being all shifty-eyed won't get you far.

If the person was apologetic and non-insistent about it then I'd probably just give them a break and sign their paper.

On a separate note, this is an awful way to try and get shy people to open up a bit. When I was a little kid I was pretty shy, and no amount of pushing and goading could encourage me to feel comfortable in social situations. In fact, it actually made it worse. It wasn't until years later that I realized that I was just a natural introvert, and when that happened I learned how to deal with people comfortably on my own.

The teacher is probably expecting none of you guys to get actual signatures from strangers and instead bring those of your parents/neighbors/friends/etc.

A good way to steal information if you ask me. Easily copied and forged.

Now's your chance to write down a bunch of fake names

Is there any marks assigned to this? If not then just don't do it. Seems like a stupid assignment to me.

lol Well, I am in my 30s... but not a man. I'm just a little late getting around to getting my degree.

And trust me guys, I'm the least shy person in the world. I strike up conversations with strangers literally every single day. I'm very active in my community and I do outreach missions with various churches, etc. etc. so I don't need someone to help me "get out of my comfort zone". You know?

I don't know... I could probably svcker some Wal-mart-ians into signing but I feel like if they did, I should lecture them about social engineering and that giving away what seems like harmless information could get them screwed. *sigh* I'm pretty sure the assignment is worth points though and I have to maintain a 3.0 GPA... but I don't know how to handle it when I feel so strongly against it.

At least people agree with me. lol

Easy way to do it then is to get the signatures of everyone in your class, unless you know everyone in your class.

I had teachers doing crap like that when I went back to school. I was one of the oldest people in my classes and I didn't have time for crap like that. I would just go get a coffee. Paying to sit through crap like that.

I don't really see it as much of an issue on your part. The student doesn't have to do this the way the professor says you should. You can just make up a signature. Most signatures are just a big cursive letter from their first/last names and a random squiggle after it. You don't have to "agree" with the assignment. It's really easy to bypass, it's not like the professor could know or even cares if you fake a signature.

If you want to go that route, you shouldn't try coming up with a bunch of signatures yourself. Have everyone in your class sign your sheet with random names so that you get legitimately unique signatures.

What's more unique than making one up yourself?

I can see it now.....

"Sir, would you sign this paper for me please?"

"He he he.... sure little boy, but first, get into the back of my van...."

I have no intentions of cheating and faking the signatures would be cheating. Also, yes, my teacher actually would care and I'd likely lose points if I were to do that.

Stop revealing my plans to everybody, jeez.

Yea, it does seem a little, creepy to me. Does it have to be an actual signature, or write just something random?
If some complete stranger came up to me and asked for my signature, I probably wouldn't give it to them because I'd be suspicious of what they were doing....

Obviously enough, it's far easier to spot consistencies in "different" styles of handwriting when they're all coming from the same person.

You know I have seen some signatures that are just a little dash or a line with a basic thing at the end. They're the kind of easy thing to copy. Also if you're an expert at forging you're not going to be questioned too often about the signatures surely.

wear a gimp suit/your birthday suit and ask for people's signatures

But, depending on what you ask, it's not. If you plainly state to people that it's an exercise to help introverted people feel more comfortable in crowds and talking with strangers, that should help.

I would just go up to people and ask for their initials. Which is basically a signature but not enough to make someone feel like you're trying to get too much info out of them.

Want to beat the system? Ask us for our forum signatures. Technically they're signatures, right?

Copy/paste them onto a sheet, print it, and hand it in.

"Here you go, professor. The sigs. of BGSF users. "