People want to talk to me lately. Random people at random places want to stand around for 30 minutes and tell me their life story. The delivery guy who brings me the dog-stuff I order from the online shop, the clerk at the bank, my handler, my teacher at the business class, the pizza guy, the mechanic who changes my tires, the postman, someone I knew in high school but haven't met for 15 years... Pretty much all the people I have casual contact with during my visits to the town or who come by my house on an errand want to extend that brief contact to a meaningful conversation for some reason. Or just stand around and chat. I don't really do chat or small talk, it's an incredibly difficult concept to master for an Aspie. So I nod and smile a lot and sometimes grunt sympathetically and they just go on and on, telling me things I don't tell my closest friends and acting like it's all casual and normal. Is the world getting really THAT bad, that anyone without a smartphone in their hand will do as a confessor? People are willing to spill their guts to anyone who looks friendly and will listen? I've never been a very approachable person, my features are stern-looking and I'm often serious - a combination, that makes me look angry. And I always look like I'm hurrying somewhere. So it's not about me looking like a therapist and inducing this will to confide in everyone I meet. It's weird. I don't mind, it's not like it's unpleasant to listen to people talk about themselves, some of them are really interesting individuals and someone SHOULD listen to them, they have a lot to say. But it's difficult for me to hold up a conversation, a lot more difficult than it would be for anyone normal. Asperger's is one thing, my natural timidness and instinct to avoid other people is another, and they make a killer combo for casual acquaintances. It's a lot of work for me to talk to strangers and it wears me out. But that's not even the main reason this phenomenon freaks me out. The main question in my head is - why? Why do these strangers need someone they don't know to listen to their stories? Most of them have friends and family, loved ones, close relationships. Don't those people listen? Is the whole world turned into smartphone-zombies already? Is this it, is this the reason? Are their loved ones so submerged in their online worlds they forget to pay attention to the people that are right there by their side? Now that scares me. Anyway. Ask your loved ones how they are. How their day went. Are they happy. What bothers them. What do they dream of. Listen to them. Put your phones away. I never get anything done if I need to listen to all the stories of all the people I meet...
