Forrest Gump said these words: “Stupid is as stupid does.”

Now I have done some really dumb things in my life, but after reading what happened at a Popeye’s fast food restaurant in Maryland, I don’t feel so bad about my acts of stupidity.

Picture this scene. People are waiting for hours in a line that ends far down a street outside Popeye’s to buy a chicken sandwich. Yes you read that right — to buy a chicken sandwich, but that’s not the real act of stupidity in this story. A man began to cut through the line here and there until he got inside the place despite a bunch of loud protests.

Once inside, he was confronted by another man. A brief argument ensued that ended when the line cutter was stabbed with a knife and killed. The murderer ran out of Popeye’s (without a chicken sandwich) and has yet to be found. The restaurant suspended selling the sandwich, which infuriated the crowd. They resumed selling it the next day.

My second thought after thinking how stupid people can be was, “Can a chicken sandwich be that good?”

I’m aware that calling anyone stupid is cruel and that someone might call me out and say that an act of stupidity can be a mental disorder. I should use the word, “irrational,” but for the sake of the subject matter of this column, forgive me, because I will continue to call those actions described here as stupid.

Let’s roll on with the woman who climbed into the lions’ den at the Bronx Zoo in September. When the police arrived, she shouted, “I am the lion now!” After questioning, she said she was having a spiritual experience in the den because she believed she was reincarnated from a lion that lived a long time ago. A mental disorder is likely, but perhaps she was smarter than we think and was making a statement about living her life in a “cage.” I know — that’s a stretch.

Studies report that the intelligent mock those who are not. Degrading others for being stupid is all too common. We often hear the expressions, “not the sharpest tool in the shed,” “a few fries short of a Happy Meal” and “the light bulb must have burned out years ago.”

A young man who calls himself ThioJoe made a false idea video he titled “How to Make Money Without Working.” He showed an “official” letter from President “Barry” Obama, dated Aug. 35. The letter said that if you emailed the president and asked for free money, he would send you $5,000 every day for the rest of your life.

Some of the responses just leave you scratching your head. Let’s start with someone asking, “Is this real?” Then there’s this one. “How will he find my address to send me the money?” How about, “Is this for Americans only? I live in India.” Perhaps the best (or the worst) was “Today’s not the 35th. It’s Aug. 19th.”

An article in Atlantic Monthly reported that in the 1950s, not being smart had little to do with being happy in life. IQ did not determine a good marriage or job satisfaction. What mattered more back then was eagerness and willingness to complete a task successfully.

The topic of intelligence and how it relates to happiness is intriguing. Christen Conger wrote an article titled “Are Stupid People Happier?” A 2005 study found that there is no correlation between intelligence and happiness. Smarter people are better equipped to provide for themselves, but they will strive to achieve more and therefore are often left unsatisfied. Conger’s study also found that 50 percent of one’s chances to be happy are genetic and are based upon the level of parental happiness. His most significant statement was that happiness can make you smarter. You have broader thinking. You are more creative. Happy people also live longer.

I’m not sure I want to believe that one. I know of a few 90-year-olds who are cranky and mean to almost everybody.

In 1976, a professor from the University of California published an essay that said the greatest threat to human extinction is stupid people. He warned then there are too many and they are growing in epidemic numbers. They only cause problems for others with no benefits to themselves.

He wrote, “The only way society can avoid being crushed by the burden of idiots is if the non-stupid work even harder to offset the losses of their stupid brethren.”

Now for me, that is a very stupid thing to suggest.

A study by the Pew Research Center found that people with the most extreme opinions actually know very little about what they’re talking about, which makes them sound stupid. The research was conducted at climate change rallies. Many of those who were shouting, ”Save the planet!” were questioned about thermal barriers and melting ice caps, and they had no idea what they were.

Albert Einstein said, “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity and I’m not sure about the former.”

Spoken word artist Raheel Faroog said, “The problem with the world is that everyone does not have a brain, but everyone does have a tongue.”

Well, I think I’ve said enough about this topic. Now I have to hurry down to Popeye’s and get in line for my chicken sandwich and then hurry back home. I have to check my emails to see if Barry Obama sent me my $5,000.

When I have enough money, I’m going to buy the Bronx Zoo and let that lady live in the lions’ den.

That would be enough of my stupidity to last me the rest of my life.

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.