Published on 12, July, 2020
I used fast cars, motorcycles, drinking beer, fighting, chasing women, and having bad relationships to try to fit into society but the real issue was I was on the spectrum.
It took me a long time to work out what the real issue was. Have you had a similar experience ?
did you up the adrenalin in your life to try and fit in ? like climbing ice mountains at night with a torch on your head !
did you drink far too much to overcome your lacking social skills ? Funny stories are most welcome as well of course we do need a laugh.
Have you made a complete tit of yourself ? lets us know please.
Did you join the army or the navy by mistake ? lets us know please.
does driving cars and/or motorcycles help calm your autism related anxiety or make it worse (eg road rage) ? lets us know
did autism cause you to be so aggressive you got arrested a lot,,,, how did you deal with it, how did your parents deal with it ?
telling jokes about your autism and autistic mistakes is most welcome
This is MY favourite Jet-Aircraft ever... The Hawk-Sid Harrier, VTOL, British, but ...R.I.P. (*sniffle*).
After that it would be the F14-Tomcat, (Swing-wing aircraft ) which I once built a little toy of, when really Young. (I am so old fashioned...)
I went to an airshow in about 1971 when the Harrier was entering service - they made a 3 foot high fence about 60 feet diameter with people packed around it and landed a Harrier in it - I was at the fence where the left wing tip was literally about 6 feet away - the noise was unbelievable and the blast from the engine and manoeuvring tip jet was right in my face!
There's no way on earth they would ever do that sort of thing now.
You've reminded me that I went to a RN Air Day about 1967 and saw one of the first F4 Phantoms based there. Rather more mundane were the Sea Vixens, which I would regularly see engaged in offshore bombing target practice; from the same base. But that day was memorable for a couple of other equally indelible reasons.
We were taken to the air day by the larger-than-life local bobby; and one very much of the old school, who believed in crime prevention by punishing you himself, before you ever got around to committing any crime. Heading through an always traffic-jammed town on the way, I had my first real taste of the cop vs traffic warden war. (Wardens had recently been given greater powers.) Right in the middle of town was a traffic warden, controlling the lights. He was probably just trying to make it a bit easier for folks heading to the air day So as we are barrelling past the traffic warden, the cop winds down his window and shouts at the warden, "Stop playing with the bloody lights, cretin! You haven't a clue what you're ****ing doing!" That was probably the first time I had ever heard the 'ing' profanity used by a respected local.
About an hour later, we stopped off to look at the cop's family orchard, which was almost right next to the runway. It really was a huge base, but it was remarkably idyllic in that orchard on a sunny day. So there was I having a silent slash, when I put my foot in an enormous cowpat. Or so I thought at the time. I turned out to be a humongous rotten apple. (A definite bouquet of rotten apple, added to a certain lingering crispness you don't normally associate with cow pats.) I am accustomed to cider orchards, but that was the only pumpkin-sized faller I've ever seen. That was an old style orchard, with enormous trees. It was a wonderful late summer scene, but not greatly appreciated because it took me quite a long time to clean up my shoe sufficient to be allowed back into the cop's Triumph Herald.
That cop has another indelible place in my memory. I was invited to his son's birthday party. The cop was actually quite a playful sort, given half a chance. He had designed a number of riddles and games for the party, with one clue card specifically for each attendee. Mine had an anagram of my own name on it, and he had also scrawled a hole at the top of the card, which he labelled as my 'escape hole' to get out of doing what most other kids would do gladly. That was probably the first time someone ever really suggested I might be a bit weird. He wasn't a bad old stick actually, but I was definitely put out by that one; even though I could plainly see it for myself;
Well, I deliberately left out some further details, to avoid making it too obvious where I'm from. I have recently discovered that the place has always had a bit of a rep for frequently going off on a tangent. And the cop could be quite outspoken about the system under which he operated; though locals, of all political persuasions, could agree he was the right guy for the job. Not long after this story happened he got caught up in a high-profile murder case. He probably figured quite highly in the investigation, as he would have undoubtedly noted some significant goings-on before the event. And it might also have inspired his kid (exceptionally bright) to pursue a very successful career in special investigation.
There were actually a whole load of bright kids in that neighborhood, but the local education system seemed to have deliberately singled them out as failures; perhaps because they believed our teachers were not really producing the sort of kids they thought necessary for a more academic ed. They got that completely wrong; although in my own case they perhaps had a point. And I'm now wondering whether one of the local factories was in some way responsible for creating a 'hotspot'. (But I'm not the greatest fan of fringe theories.)
lovely story. I love the orchard bit as I just love old orchards. The love your account of the bobby. That bobby seems quite a nice guy and a real character. In them days they weren't paid much so you almost had to have a vocation to do the job. You could face anything from telling a wife her husband is dead to arresting someone you know.
I think I have seen an F4 at an airshow but I was very young and it went by so fast.