The Opinionated Aspie

  It's only been six months since I said goodbye to New Zealand and the loved ones I had there, and I've moved again. Not to another country, thankfully, but to another state I never imagined myself living in; Alabama.   I know a few things about Alabama, but not enough to call it familiar. I haven't even been through this state since my mother, stepfather, and I, moved to North Carolina when I was 14. That was thirty years ago! Is it crazy for me to do this? Not really- by comparison of some my more impulsive moves of the past. What's maybe a tad crazy is I moved in with a sister I just met three months ago, and her family. But otherwise- moving is second nature to me, which makes saying goodbye seem a bit shallow at this point, when it comes to the new people in my life.   With the job I'd been working at since October, it especially seemed empty and too easy walking away. I don't even feel bad anymore when I don't feel sad that I probably won't

  Ugh... here's a trigger that I fear will only get worse with age. Repetitious speech patters and/or lyrics! Funny for an aspie to feel that way. You may not understand why I just said that unless you have  enough knowledge on autism to make the connection that autistic people can be very repetitious with their speech.   I'm not one of those aspies though, or at least, I don't perceive myself to be (LOL). I don't take a word I've just learned from my 'Word of the Day' calendar and start using it an obnoxious number of times per day, or incorporate fad words and phrases into my vocabulary as soon as it becomes trendy, then abuse the shit out of them. If I do use popular culture in any manner of my being, it's usually done in a playful, mocking, or child-like tone. I still have never used "said no one ever" (other than writing it just now) or "Not!" when being sarcastic. Can you believe there are still people who say "No

  I remember the first time someone told me I was a genius. I thought that was absurd. I was a terrible student in school. One of the worst in class sometimes. I was one of those students that the 80's traumatized because they didn't know enough about ADD and high functioning autism, to spot me and give the help I needed.   Because I was constantly put down by teachers and comparing myself to my friends and sister, who were always the best students- I came to the conclusion that I was stupid and it took decades for me to shake off that feeling of inferiority.   It wasn't just in the classroom that I discovered how different I was from other kids. It was on the playground and during sleepovers. Even at church I just didn't quite fit in. My own best friends would scold me at times, for things I didn't understand as "being bad", or for being honest about things I didn't think of as hurtful or were meant to be kept confidential.   Now that I'

Written 18/3/19 Dear New Zealand,   I fell in love with the idea of you long before I married my Kiwi husband. You were the island country of my childhood dreams and I couldn’t wait to move there and make you my home forever.   In April of 2015 I moved to Mount Maunganui with an open mind and heart, but not long after, I let fear take root as I faced the many cultural, climate, and living condition challenges that naturally come with living in a new country.    Once fear led to anger, my human brain only wanted to pick out all your flaws and be angry at you. I didn’t want to make friends with your people. I didn’t want to understand your culture. Probably because of the similarities I saw there, not different from my own culture. The racism and intolerance, and shocking ignorance and indifference I saw...   And where was this paradise I was promised? Cold, damp, and mouldy homes that caused my respiratory health to plummet so fast, it left me gasping for air year round.   T

    For several years now I've been thinking about the kinds of personalities that climb the ranks to upper management or ownership, and how out of the many jobs I've had in my adult life, more times than not, I've ended up working for terrible bosses.   The first store manager I ever worked under was only twenty-five at the time, and used to throw objects at you when he'd lose his temper. He once threw a metal ice scoop at my head, then bought me lunch later that day. He also made sexual advances towards the teenage girls that worked there when his pregnant wife, who was also a manager for that company, wasn't around. I was only sixteen at the time and remember him asking me when was I going to get my tits. I was the lucky one for not having noticeable ones or he would have tried to feel me up like I'd seen him do the girls who did.   I'd like to say I started this off with the worst of all the bosses of my Christmas past, but he was actually quite

  Yep... My first ever post for this blog is going to be a hairstylist rant!   You know what I've learned about babies and haircuts the twenty plus years I've been doing hair? Almost ALL babies are afraid of clippers. You know why I think this is? Because they make buzzing noises, cut stuff, and because a total stranger is the one holding them very close to sensitive baby skin.   Does this deter certain parents from asking you to give their twelve to eighteen month old boy a complex clipper cut that requires you to take the guard off? Nope! Can somebody please explain to me why a baby needs a skin fade like dad? Better yet... explain to me why any parent would risk the safety of their child for fashion or to be daddy's little clone?   If I had to choose who gets to be the top of my list of dreaded clients, it would have to be young boys and their mothers/fathers. Parents are willing to traumatize their kids for "as short as you can get it" so they don