Published on 12, July, 2020
Just all the noise, fuss, fake smiles. Inside my head I'm screaming for darkness and quiet. Never realised before why I felt this
Anyone else know what I mean?
Yeah I remember it will. I used to bite my lips to ribbons in town doing Xmas shopping.
Best part about being in hospital is that I don't have to go through stuff like that anymore. Xmas just sort of goes around me here.
Shopping and Christmas, the two words I dread more than any other. Christmas is my least favourite time of the year. When I was a lad Christmas was much more about the family, meeting up and having a good time. That side of Christmas has changed since and it is more about the presents and decorations. I suppose when I was younger we were recovering from the war and there wasn't enough money for all the extra trimmings.
I can remember a Christmas at my mother and father's home, I would have been about seven years then. Our house was only small. The toilet was in a shed at the bottom of the garden. The heating came from big stove in the kitchen and we all sat around it to keep warm. The presents were made by my mother, clothing she had done herself and the day was spent sat around having a laugh and a damn good time. That for me was Christmas. I don't see that anymore and I don't suppose I will again.
At christmas I used to buy a lot of my presents at garden centres. They often are quieter,and there is a garden to nip into for fresh air.
My wife has a pair, she's bipolar and misphonic, think that's how you spell it, they cancel a lot of low frequency sounds. They were £50 from Currys. The more expensive ones cancel a wider frequently range I believe
Tried earplugs today. Didn’t work. anyone tried noise cancelling headphones.
Dark room, earphones, Doctor Who soundtrack on repeat, sometimes accompanied by a long session on the exercise bike, again in the dark!
I carry those little foam earplugs all the time - nice to be able to lower the noise levels when it gets too much.
Second day from hell. Dodgy PA system with varying levels of sound, blasting Christmas music.
Trouble is I kept working through it, trying to at least. Exhausted by the end of the day.
What do others do when the have sensory meltdowns? I stop, sometimes rock, grind my teeth. I should really have gone home but didn’t.
As predicted, sensory meltdown at work.
I was an online picker for a year. Like you I loved the early hours until around 9am when the masses came in. I stayed a year, would have been longer if the shifts hadn't been so long, 6 in theory but often 8-9. Too long on my feet carrying shopping and I ended up with tennis elbow.
Hooray! I will sing that line in my head now when I have a bad day!
You've got it in one!
Is this the line:
'Why do I give valuable timeTo people who don't care if I live or die?'
Don’t get me wrong. I like Christmas at home, it’s the going out is the problem.
Yes. You describe it exactly. Noise, fuss, fake smiles, fake bonhomie, same old songs, same old people saying the same old things. And the likes of Jeff Bezos are rubbing their hands...
Past 4 years worked Christmas Eve, not this year though.
Bit the Xmas lights are turned on. Sigh. It will be hell.
Snap. I work part time in retail, always have. Luckily now I work early mornings when there's no one about because I actually pick the online shopping for customers. But before I've been a delivery driver and front of house. Smiling politely at people. There is a line in one of The Smith's songs from the 80's that always comes to mind when I would have to deal with awkward customers. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, brownie points for anyone who can guess it
That’s why online invented.
Feel for me guys. I work part-time in retail. Argghhh on the inside. How can I help you? On the outside.
I hate Xmas shopping too, not too keen on Xmas in general as it was a very lonely sad time for me as a kid. These days shopping isn't too bad due to my lack of parents and the wonders on on-line shopping, but back in the 70s - 90s I found it ultra stressful.
Yeah I totally get what you mean dazahomestead. Christmas time is always a little stressful for me because it is a time of family and friends getting together... Noise, chit chat... I feel tired thinking about it... Now I know more about Autism, it makes more sense why I feel like that.