Published on 12, July, 2020
How comfortable are you in breaking the unwritten rules of society?
Most of us auties are keen to fit in and hide in plain sight so doing things that are considered wrong is hard for us.
We went out yesterday to a Pizza Hut (daughter's choice as she's just finished uni for the year).
We sat down and started going through the menus and I could not believe the prices being charged for a basic pizza.
£15 for a 9" pizza (I consider that a kid's pizza) and over £20 for an normal pizza. Including drinks, dessert & tip we would be up near £100 for some pizza!!!!
I was stuck for a few seconds - I've never walked out of a restaurant before ordering and I'd be disappointing my daughter - but - Holy Crap! I cannot blow that much cash for a sugary, over-salted, mass-produced garbage. pizza.
I was stuck in glitch-mode for a minute or so until - NO - I can't do it - I can't waste that much money - so we got up with everyone looking at us - the waitress was confused - and we just said thanks but no thanks and we left.
We went along to a very nice Italian restuarant (if I'm paying for expensive pizza, I want a decent pizza) but as we got there 10 minutes before their daytime menu ended, we got the discounted rate - £6.95 for amazing 15" pizzas. Couldn't manage it all - it was great.
Maybe we should stand up for ourselves more often.
Sooooo - What have you done recently to break your programming?
...Greetings. Me, just to add a bit of chaos/rebellion/perspective in this Thread...I Myself always am going against the "programming" of My local area - South London - ...by ALWAYS wearing a Tie or some kind of neckwear, even though I am not a Lawyer, Estate Agent, or SchoolChild. I do not wear clothes (jeans, t-shirt) which are so tight that they may as well be painted on. And neither do I wear at least two children, or fawn over children belonging to other people, nor do I dye my hair, or use the F-Word, or stand around twiddling my thumbs over a small screen while preventing other persons from passing by... Pick at least two out of all those and that is what surrounding Persons appear to do, here.
...Living in London, with regards to Food, the outskirts tend to charge reasonable prices, yet there is a thing known as "Tourist Prices" here, where, closer to the City Centre, for the same thing costing around £3, it can be more than £10 (and yes this is the same Brand inside the the same Shop). Seriously.
My worst crime of all, however, it would seem, is to have no Mobile Phone / properly working EMail address. Anyone reading this, keep it a secret, Hmmmm...? (!)
Hi DC,
Yes... the South London social milieu that I grew up in has long gone. It makes me feel rootless now. Each time I go back up there, I recognise it less and less. Most of the working-class boozers that my dad used to frequent are now bistros and gastro-pubs. Hipsters are everywhere!
I like to defy convention or expectation, too. Back in those hunt-sabbing days, we used to go on regular demos at local village meets or at other hunt-related activities like dinner-dances. My fellow sabs invariably wore camos and para boots, etc. I usually, though, wore a suit and tie. The hunts-people didn't expect that! They liked to categorise us all as dirty, smelly, long-haired layabouts.
I well-remember a hunt follower referring to me one day as 'scum'. "Scum, my friend," I replied, "is something that rises to the surface and leaves a mark!" Put that in your pipe and smoke it!