I thought of a quick mental pace, frequently jumping from thought to thought, inevitably going off on tangents. That’s what I interpreted from the line about being “smarter and faster.” However, having that quickness translated into “smartness” is far from the only way for it to manifest.

You may have a quick mental pace, but it doesn’t help you find solutions - it just repeatedly pulls you into depression or anxiety by effortlessly connecting negative thoughts to literally anything that crosses your mind. Or you have quick thoughts, but struggle to track back to things from earlier on - leading to a feedback loop of distraction that makes conversations, movies, and sometimes even your own ideas, very difficult to follow.

Side note: I feel like if I lived in a pre-literate society, I’d be far more disabled than today. I don’t know how I’d function if I weren’t able to write down my thoughts, or read (and re-read) information. The written word provides a structure and direction that the spoken word and abstract thoughts don’t have. I may be seen as “smarter” in the modern world, but someone like me from the ancient past would’ve been at a massive disadvantage.

Honestly, I’d rather be single than be with someone who demands more from me than I can comfortably give them. It’s been years since I dated someone neurotypical.

Both my partners are on the spectrum and we have a comfortable balance. The fact that nobody gets offended over bullshit like “tone of voice” goes a long way, too - we all have difficulty regulating that. We know it’s related to our energy levels, not to our emotions.

With that said, I hope whatever happens works out for you. I know it’s a painful experience to find such an incompatibility between yourself and a person you love.

It’s never enough. I wish I could test my limits and see, but even after a week alone I still crave more time to myself.

I did have an epiphany when I realized that spending time with my partner felt the same as spending time alone (which is a good thing.) Probably because he’s a natural loner just like me, so unlike most people, he doesn’t needlessly waste my social energy on inane things like small talk.

The universe saw how we’re wreaking ourselves and decided to put us in quarantine.

And yet people deny that we’re decended from the same lineage. If humans didn’t wear clothes, I guarantee some kid would start a grass-in-the-butt trend too.

having the things we could never have when we were young

This is why I went through a period of collecting multi-cultural dolls in my 20s. When I was a kid and asked my mom for a black Barbie, she got weird about it and made me feel very uncomfortable. All over wanting a doll that wasn’t white. Fuck that noise, my Barbies span the human rainbow now.

True, any gathering of current or former “theatre kids” is going to be weird. But that’s what makes them so fun. (Unless you hate show tunes. Then you’re in for a bad time.)

Maybe HOA members need to be introduced to kink. There’s a safe way to dom, folks!

I wouldn’t be surprised if prudish repression underlies a lot of their decisions too. Oh, the world we could live in if uptight people could simply indulge in powerplay kink now and then.

When he was 2, one of my nephews decided to name my tits after the main characters of his favorite TV show. I thought it was so funny that I still introduce them to partners as Bingo and Rolly.

Damn, Uncle for the win!

Hey man, I appreciate your post for setting an amazing example of what being a father is. Some young men are reading this and seeing all these supportive comments, and that’s going to inform how they behave if they become fathers someday. So, thank you for posting your question. It’ll probably end up helping a lot more people than just your son.

I remember showering with my little brother. We would pretend we were puppies, taking turns “playing in the rain.” (It was a shower-tub combo, so the shower stream only covered one half of the tub.)

Contrast this to my mom, who taught me how to shave my legs but who forbid me from “shaving above the knee.”

That ended when I went to school in shorts and the bullies saw my thigh hair glistening in the sun.

It ended two years later, when I met a cool girl who didn’t shave if she didn’t feel like it, rocking her hairy legs without a care.

I’m still not that bold, but I found a balance that works for me. Nobody else’s opinion matters.

My god, that sounds freeing.

Seriously. “Excuse me, Mom. You put what into where?!”

If your son came to you asking for help, don’t overthink. Do the right thing and help him out, regardless of what he wants to shave.

This should be stitched into a throw pillow. The first sentence on one side, the second sentence on the other side.

It could work for so many occasions.

Shit, you’re right. I bet all the properties will have a corporate sponsor. Like, “McDonald’s™ on Ventnor Avenue” or “Walmart™ of Baltic Avenue” (because let’s be real, Baltic Avenue would totally have a Walmart.) Companies would go into bidding wars to get put on Boardwalk or Park Place.

Hey internet: this right here ^ is how you respond when you encounter new information after a disagreement. It’s totally okay to admit not having known something before. You don’t have to double-down on your ignorance or go off at some stranger.

We’re all just people, learning all the time. It’s cool.

Anyway, thanks for responding like a reasonable person, OP.

I knew a 17 year old girl who was homeschooled and didn’t know what a “prime number” was. Surprise surprise, her mom was a bible-thumper (and the girl was a closeted atheist.)

Honestly, if my parents had any idea how many creeps were on AOL, I probably would’ve been banned from it. We’re like the “grew up with no seatbelts and survived” version of internet users.