Pussycat, Pussycat, where have you been?

 

Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?

I've been to London to visit the Queen.

Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you there?

I frightened a little mouse under her chair.

 

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I may not have mentioned this before, at my place of work we will hire almost anyone capable of doing a very boring job.  Many of the positions would be perfect for functioning people on the autistic spectrum.  Today, one of these people made me think of the above nursery rhyme.

Years ago, my IQ was measured, and I scored high on two different tests.  Each put me into the top percentile.  (This explains many of the social problems I've had, as people like me tend to have a common set of issues that often go unaddressed well into adulthood.  But I digress.)  Yet, because of problems I had during my youth, I had to go to school for several years on the "Short Bus", meeting several youngsters on the spectrum along the way.

There is a person at my workplace who does not understand why people in London are eating dinner at the same time people in New York are having lunch. Compare that with me, a person who can explain why the clocks on GPS satellites run slightly faster than those on earth, and you'll find that I have a very hard time code switching to talk with this person.  So I'm polite, and leave the conversations with him to others.

 

Today, this fellow decided to try to have a conversation with me about the meaningless issue of the recycle bin exchanging places with the regular garbage bin - and I politely shut it down.  I didn't want a 10 minute chat with a person about this topic.  Later on, he made some comments to invite a conversation about a new corporate logo being applied to the break room walls.  Although I will agree with him that this change applies needed color to the room, it is a meaningless topic for me.  Once you get past saying that it looks nice, there is not much to talk about.  Yet, he wanted to say that it is unusual (it usually is on the first day), and have a 10 minute chat about the logo.  So, again, I shut him down politely, saying that it will become the new usual.  And then, I left the lunch area.

We all see different things in life.  To me, I saw a corporate logo writ large, while he focused on the colors.  I'm glad that someone has found a productive use for someone like him.  But I also wish that he wouldn't announce his every move so loud that you could hear it across the room.  Who needs to hear in a break room that he is eating lunch, when that is what people normally do around 12-1 pm?  He loudly announces that he is starting work, going on/off break, going to/from lunch, and going home.  About the only thing he doesn't do is shout that he is going to the loo to take a bio-break.  It's easy to understand why I try not to associate with him.  If someone gets on your nerves, you stay out of his/her way.  Yet, I have to say that he's lucky to never be able to understand how cruel this world can be.....