Real36 Posted September 29, 2013 Posted September 29, 2013 I joined OLD a couple of weeks ago to be pro-active about getting out of the house to meet new people following a break-up 3 months ago. I began to get messages right away. One man in particular seemed very nice, we emailed back and forth for awhile then began to text. I could tell right away that this guy was awkward. He was very interested in karaoke and would often just text "that's cool" as a response to something I said. Well, he eventually asked me to join him for karaoke at a local bar on Friday night. I agreed and we met then. I got there first so I ordered a beer and waited or him. When he arrived I could tell he was nervous, his lips quivered and he had difficulty talking without his voice wavering. I thought he would loosen up as the night went on, he did but only a little. He did not order anything the entire time we were there. Nothing. After talking with him for awhile I was pretty sure that he has Asperger's Syndrome. It's a high function Autism Spectrum disorder. I work with people who have developmental disabilities so I pegged a few of his behaviors right away. He is 33 and highly educated with a Master's degree related to Accounting, he didn't tell me his specific degree but worked as an internal auditor for a big firm in our city before he was let go. He now works for a nationwide transportation company as an accountant. When I asked if he liked his job he said it was ok, at least no one yelled at him there and that they had fired the "mean lady" that worked in his dept. He own's two homes but rents them out and lives with his mother. He travels all over the country alone or sometimes with his mother mainly because he likes planes. He showed me tons of pictures of the places he's been, the planes he took and the airports he has been to. He was excited when talking about the planes and places he had visited that had been in scenes from movies and TV shows. Not a single picture had anyone, not even himself, in them. He was very interested in mapping out the flight plans of each trip he took. He sang several songs karaoke and nailed them! Listening to him was just like listening to the song on the radio. Nearly perfect renditions. He did not seem to get sarcasm or humor, I stopped making jokes because he would just say "that's cool". He is the most socially awkward person I have ever met. We spent 3 hours together. Now, I am in no place to diagnose anyone with anything and have considered that my job could make prone to looking for social behaviors that aren't really there, but I do not think that is the case with this situation. I talked with a friend who does diagnose school age kids, she said my suspicion sounds accurate. I would not call this a bad date. It was very interesting to meet and interact with him. I can see how many people would be mean to him or yell at him. I could tell that he has difficulty making friends. He text to see if I would like to go to dinner yesterday but I was out of town for the day. If he asks again I plan to tell him that I don't see a relationship between us but that we could be friends, I think he will be fine with that. I would like to hear him sing again, he was awesome!
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