I’m surprised that anyone is answering anything. If something would seem very normal to me, as in, I think this is something everyone does, I wouldn’t know of it would seem odd to anyone else. By virtue of it seeming very normal to me.
Something being normal is rooted on it being the norm, as in, something typical. If you think something is odd, you can’t feel like it’s normal just for you, that’s not what the norm means. Maybe it seems natural to you? Sure, but not normal.
Sorry for my reading my pedantic rant. In my case, these kind of rationalizations of the language using its roots seem pretty natural and fun but I know most people look at me weird for over analysing stuff.
I recognize people by the way the walk/move, not by their face.
I use that as part of recognizing people. Mostly from behind or far away.
I have a song in my head, almost all the time. Invariably it’s some 90s jingle from a TV commercial. I habitually repeat certain phrases. Pretty sure I’m autistic in some way, but I mask like a pro. I’m popular at work, socially and adapt to people quickly. I retain eye contact, but I’m actually staring at a point just above their eyes as I find eye contact insanely intimate. I don’t think I’m a complete psycho - if anything I have an almost paralysing amount of empathy. I even sympathise with people who really don’t deserve it (politicians etc). I’m pretty happy now I’m pushing 50 and have a family, but I still use alcohol in excess most weekends. It just makes the world make more sense to me. I analyse almost every social interaction I have. I feel a sense of triumph when it goes well, and shame / responsibility when I doesn’t. I’ve been told I’m very agreeable and easy company, but the truth is it’s not easy for me and I feel like I do most of the heavy lifting in conversations. I envy those who can just sit in their own awkwardness, but I feel like I have to perform and make people like me. It usually works, but when it doesn’t I stew on it endlessly. Anyway, no idea why I unloaded all that. Cheers!
All very relatable probably autistic traits tbh
I’m actually trying my best not to buy from countries I see as vile and inhumane, and businesses owned by people who support vile political ideologies. Spend a good amount of time checking for the brand and country of origin while in the shop.
You’re not weird, just more dedicated to being a moral person than most. 👍
Rubbing my legs. Especially the inner adductors.
Ever since I was a kid I’ve been a people watcher. I can sit and just watch people and observe behaviors. I’ve been out with friends and nudge them to watch out right before fights break out. They tell me it’s creepy. I say not really, those people stand out to me.
I do crowd control when walking near other people or animals. This involves whistling or snapping my fingers to get their attention and putting my hands out if someone gets too close. I picked this up in rehab from a spinal injury that I have since mostly recovered from.
So that they don’t bump into you, is that it ? that’s probably a good habit to keep while out with vulnerable people
I can’t leave the house without a shower even if it’s just a quick 5 minute trip to the gas station. The only exception I’m willing to make for this is if someone else is in some sort of harms way from nature or whatever.
Wake up late to the thing? I just won’t be doing the thing I guess or everyone will have to wait. That said, I’m good about not being in that situation and plan myself well for the sake of others as I recognize it’s a weird thing about me, not them.
What if it’s raining?
That’s not weird. That’s normal.
It’s normal to shower before going to a gas station for 5 minutes?
It’s pretty weird. Most people only shower before/after sleeping, in colder climates not even every day.
Colder climates…so western cultures
Yes, like northern China or Russia or Mongolia or Japan.
It usually takes a very particular kind of moment for others to even notice but I don’t lie ever and I’m completely unable to give short inaccurate answers that borderline on lying.
I’ve basically trained the people around me to not ask if they don’t want to hear the truth or conversely that I’m the one to ask when everyone else is just handing out comforting lies.
… you realize you are almost certainly autistic, right?
I realize the stack of evidence supporting that possibility is quite high.
Well, uh full irony of the bluntness intended here:
Takes one to know one.
You remind me of… me, just, with friends who aren’t assholes.
Blunt, yet detailed, as fair as you can be?
Giving a half answer feels like lying?
Lying itself is essentially innately not a thing you do, unless you learn how to, by studying it as a concept?
Ding ding ding.
Same here. It’s a real barrier at work. Leadership doesn’t like facts. That said, apparently ADHD causes some symptoms that most people consider autistic. A doc told me that when one of my kids who appears autistic was evaluated for it. But it’s all just labels anyway. The symptoms are what matter.
People in general dislike anything that might inconvenience them, the truth included. Effective communication lies in one’s ability to make them understand despite these emotional barriers (with techniques like the “compliment sandwich”, “I feel” statements or opening with some light jokes, for example). 👍
I feel ya. I have the absolute worst poker face, and I cannot bluff. My uncles all liked to get together and play poker over the holidays, but the one time I was invited it was a bloodbath.
The work people haven’t figured this out yet.
Stopping midsentence and expecting other people to know what I was about to say.
Impulsively replacing a word with something that could be considered adjacent; “My teammates” could become “my animals”.
Pretty sure I got this habit from my mum, who is ESL and later developed aphasia after having a stroke young. It kinda bled out into how me and my sisters communicated and I carried it into adulthood, although I only do this around people I feel super comfortable with.
I do the first one all the time. I’ll be in the middle of something while talking, or struggle to remember the correct word, and I’ll just kinda trail off. Then maybe 10 seconds later I’ll remember that I just stopped talking mid-sentence and try to pick back up.
ESL?
English as a Second Language I presume
I have full on conversations with myself. To the point where I simulate talking with two people. I don’t have any multiple personalities or any mental illness (as far as I know), I just use it as a way to think about what I need to think about.
You’re not talking to yourself, you’re crafting a socratic dialogue outloud.
Like I dunno if there is any particular evidence that Plato like, talked to himself aloud in developing his plays… but a substantial amount of the foundation of ‘Western’ canon is pretty much Plato making up conversations that probably are not verbatim accurate, but work to dramatize and illustrate some kind of tension between characters with different worldviews
I think that’s normal if you have an inner voice. I do that too to an extent. However, not everyone has an inner voice. I can’t imagine how life works for these people, but it’s not that rare not to have an inner voice.
I got my inner voice around 20yo, it was very surprising at first… I thought that’s it, the family strain of madness finally got to me, I’m weeks away from being restrained.
But no, it’s harmless. Even useful because it’s like rehearsing -it means I don’t have to improv all the time.
I have this reporter/podcast host living rent free inside my head to whom I have to give daily interviews to.
Your left brain and your right brain are communicating externally
I open bananas from the blossom end instead of the stem end because it’s easier
Most modern apple varieties have soft enough cores to eat, so I eat them (not the seeds though)
I eat kiwi skin because I enjoy the fuzzy texture (I don’t even have a rationalization even I think it’s weird)
basically I make everyone uncomfortable when I eat fruit lol
I eat watermelon seeds. Watermelon not hard enough to need to bite down hard and it’s too time consuming to spit out every seeds. They do not collect anywhere in the GI track.
that’s good to know that they don’t cause GI issues
I’m lucky that in Brooklyn most watermelons sold are a seedless variety. Tbh I prefer honeydews though
I break bananas in half to start peeling. Otherwise no matter what end I usually end up crushing the point of the banana.
Fuzzy fruit makes me gag.
I also enjoy the kiwi skin. Witnesses are almost universally disgusted and some are ready to throw hands.
hello fellow kiwi skin freak lol
I’ve never heard someone call it the “blossom end”, I’ve always known it to be called the Bananus (banana anus). I think monkeys typically open it on the same end rather than from the stem.
The kiwi skin on is actually very fibrous, I know someone that was constipated during pregnancy and the only thing that would clear them out was kiwis with skin on!
Yeah, monkeys open it from the non stem end, and they eat a lot of bananas, so I think they are correct, and the humans are wrong. Also
ripreap bananas are almost impossible to open by breaking the stem - I grab a knife to make a cut at the base of the stem if the banana has reached that point.If you haven’t cut your nails in a couple of days, you can use them to cut into the stem a bit before tearing it off
wow, just how fast do your fingernails grow ? I don’t see a noticeable change in their length in less than a week’s time
A normal speed? I think I get a week and a half between trimmings. You don’t need much fingernail to do it, just enough to be able to push an edge in
henceforth I’m using bananus lmao
I do all these, except with bananas I split the skin along the entire back so the peel is one solid piece instead of a dangly mess.
i might steal that
I’ve mostly switched to only opening bananas from the butt end, and I think my friends are about half and half.
- At home I use the mouse right handed with the left and right click on the normal buttons.
- At work I use the mouse left handed and have the left and right click swapped.
I do it because my right hand is getting sore from clicking but at home I still want to play games.
How heavy is your mouse? I switched to a super light corded gaming mouse (wireless mice weight a ton) and has considerably reduced hand fatigue. I also used to use the mouse in my non dominant hand as well.
Same here. Work mouse is a mirror of home mouse. I started putting it on the left because I use the 10-key a lot. When there was a phone I put it on the left too, so that my right hand (the 10-key hand) would not get confused by the upside down layout of the phone keypad.
At work, mouse and phone (gone now, thank every God) on left, to leave my dominant hand free for the keyboard, basically.
If either of your hands is getting sore from clicking with any sort of regularity you should probably mention it to your doctor - it sounds like it could be a repetitive stress injury in the making.
Even if I went to the doctors what can they do? Its cooked and the only way to fix it is not using it so much
To add to bougie birdie’s reply, a doctor would be able to actually diagnose you and determine if this is a nerve related issue, repetitive stress injury, or potentially early signs of a degenerative disorder such as arthritis, etc. The treatment for a repetitive stress injury, if that is what is causing your pain, could include things like specialized brace to immobilize certain parts of your hand so they can heal properly (especially important during sleep).
My partner had a repetitive stress injury that she had diagnosed and then didn’t see a therapist for (at first). Her injury did not heal even though she was not using that part of her hand until she finally went to an occupational therapist and got an appropriate brace (and instructions for tendon gliding exercises).
A physiotherapist might be able to work with you on some stretches or exercises to relieve pain and strengthen your muscles so they don’t wear out. If it’s documented by your doctor, you might get better coverage under medicare /insurance / worker’s comp / etc. The advantage of going through a physiotherapist is that they’ll be able to tell you if you’re doing something wrong that will worsen your outcome.
I do a few stretches that seem to help me when I flare up. The most effective is when you place your hands palm together in front of your chest like you’re praying 🙏 and then slowly rotate them so that your fingers point towards the ground. I can definitely feel the tension, and if it hurts like a bastard then don’t do it. But stretching for a few minutes a few times each day makes a big difference personally.
Have you tried a trackball?
My advice is for a pen tablet, but in all honesty I’ve never tried a trackball
So … Some people’s brains are wired with directions being absolute, and some people’s brains are wired with directions being relative. One of the easiest ways to tell which way your brain is wired is to switch your mouse to the other hand. If your brain is absolute-wired, then the main button is always on the left; if your brain is relative-wired, then the main button is always the one closest to your body.
Someone correct me, but I believe the gear pattern in a manual transmission does not change between right hand and left hand cars.
That’s what I observed when I briefly drove a car in northern India. It was very difficult to figure out because I kept expecting the first gear to be the one closest to my body…
I think this is probably bullshit?
Sure when using a mouse in their off hand some people might use a different primary button.
I don’t think that necessarily provides any insight into how someone’s brain is wired, nor whether or not absolute or relative brain wiring is actually a thing.
Yeah if there’s anything human beings like, it’s symmetry. I also alternate mouse hands but the buttons need to be swapped. Left vs right hand may not matter but primary is always under my pointer finger.
I switched to a trackball years ago for this reason. It doesn’t necessarily solve the problem just shifts the task to your thumb.
I mouse right handed up to lunch, then left handed after that.
I switched years ago at work for similar reasons. When I carried it over at home, my left-handed partner at the time didn’t like it - thought it was confusing to use a left-handed mouse. Go figure
I know where almost all of my physical possessions are down to the cubic decimeter.
After moving to a new place or staying somewhere regular ( like gfs place) I’ll have opened every cupboard and every drawer and looked in every nook and cranny, and tested every light switch.
It’s weird to hear people say ‘I never noticed that lightswitch before’ after they have lived there for months. Don’t people explore anymore?
Fun story - my house has a hidden room sort of. I’ve known about it since I bought the place like 15 years ago. I plan to convert it into a root cellar/storm shelter/bug out room since its in a very secure part of the basement.
I didn’t know there was a half-size wooden door hidden behind the partly-finished basement drywall (previously a rec room/office), i just knew about the shitty door cut into the side of the stairs. Never had a reason to go inside there with a light prior to that, and its entirely hidden from the existing door. Only found it while preparing the space for my chickens to ride out a brutal cold snap this past winter.
Its jambed on both sides to prevent swing and never had hardware, but I can drill and hang it pretty easily. Then i really will make it a hidden room someone will find randomly someday
You gotta pin up a bunch of random stock photos and newspaper clippings with red string running everywhere!
I can talk myself out of buying anything, and often do. Even when I actually need it.
Self-gaslighting. I don’t know if this is a superpower or a weakness…
Its literally a trauma response to poverty, its a kind of hypervigilance.
It can be a superpower in many situations, it can be a debilitating neuroticism in others.
I haven’t been in debt for like 2 years now and I still tell myself that I don’t need to spend more money on food. I probably skip dinner (that I can afford to eat) 2 or 3 times a week because the only way I’ll eat something is if I pay for it.
At least I’ve beaten the odds of obesity…!
… sounds pretty rough, not fun.
But, you did make it through it.
I would genuienly suggest that you set up and maintain a 3 or 6 month emergency fund… literally as a psychological means of being able to actually feel ok about spending you can afford to spend, as much as for the actual finance sense.
Like basically, look at your budget, set an amount that always goes into that fund each month.
Once you hit the 3 or 6 month target?
If you have money left over after accounting for all other significant spending… it is actually ok to spend that money as fun money.
Then after that fills over, consider something like high yield savings account. Still pretty liquid, not very risky, but, it is still withdrawable, but but, you have the emergency fund now as a buffer.
I appreciate the advice. I could get fired tomorrow and be mostly ok for the rest of the year. But I don’t think I’ll ever shake the, “are you really spending $20 for a single meal? That won’t even give you leftovers?” mentality.
