Published on 12, July, 2020
Thanks to Number in another thread (root beer) I've been thinking of the many things I've just 'not got' and done wrong.
Usually the clue that I'm not 'getting it' is the look of wonder on the faces of other people.
I'm suspecting now this may be autism related.
There are countless examples during my life but here a few.
McDonalds: I don't really understand McDonalds and I don't spend time in them without another person.
My mum used to like them so I'd take her there for lunch sometimes.
One of the 1st times she asked me to collect a menu for her and some cutlery.
I couldn't understand why these weren't on the table.
So, I went to the counter and asked for these things.
After this initial trauma, I then had the trauma of trying to understand what you are supposed to eat off of and with.
Doh.
McDonalds is a particular thing with me I think.
I was with my autistic friend on our way back from visiting his mother and we went to a McD.
He asked me to get him a 'root beer'.
So, I asked for such at the counter only to be asked what that is.
I said 'I don't know' so no root beer was presented to my friend.
Another prime example is going to a spa and swimming baths in a hotel.
I'm not a swimmer or a spa goer.
So, the 1st thing I did was put my make-up on before going there.
Then, I couldn't understand how the lockers worked and had to get assistance.
Then, I eventually found the toilets but couldn't find my way back to the swimming pool so I walked through reception soaking wet in my swimming costume.
I was also in a church once when a service began and loads of people sat around me.
I had gone in there because I was in a strange city and cold and was using the church as a refuge.
I thought I could just sit there whilst the service took place.
I hadn't anticipated communion and although I'm not a Catholic or a church goer, and although I didn't understand what I was doing, I felt obliged to follow everyone up and take communion.
There are so many examples I won't continue.
Is it just me or are there other people here who just don't 'get it?'.
Being in an audience at a public performance. Horrible but I keep trying to enjoy concerts theatre outings cinema etc
awful..inconvenient…
I sit there having paid for the thought ‘what is wrong with me?’and I am the only human being who feels this way
When i was younger i would attend gigs and then drink heavily to deal with Social Anxiety. I'm not sure how i'd cope sober but i intend to try and attend one again one day.
Take earplugs. Although it's better now, they still sometimes use ear damaging levels of sound.
Autism does seem to be affected by the amount of sound one is processing too.
Going to "Gigs" isn't really so much about the listening...
Neither was I, but my ears still seem to have fairly decent sensitivity now I am older, and if I'd not worn earplugs most of the time on the range and when at gigs, or operating certain machines, and most importantly not driving with the window open (that ruins your right ear over time) the evidence suggests I'd be a lot deafer now.
When I was young I used to use short plugs and fit 'em deep so it wasn't obvious at gigs...
The most hazardous gigs (for your ears) are little ones where the amps are run into distortion, the bigger ones have more power so they can get up to the legal limit without clipping, and there are regulations in place to limit the overall sound pressure levels.
Keeping up when you get older is hard enough, you may as well give yourself a chance to be able to still at least hear what is going on...
Not sure why I'm concerned about your hearing, when I think about it, but I like to be helpful when I can. (and if my dad hadn't told me about driving with the window down, I'd have ruined the hearing on my right side too, like he did).
Was never an earplug guy.