The challenge of relating to others

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On a street 10 people are walking.

1: They did early morning yoga and are on their way to the gym. Optimistic, hopeful.

2: Woke up late and just wants to crawl back in bed. On way to their retail job. In a world of their own.

3: A drug dealer en route to a client. Feels tetchy, is wondering whether that person behind them is an undercover cop. Feeling edgy.

4. Is in a rush to get to the jobcentre where they have to make an appointment or their welfare will get cut. Stressed and very unhappy.

5. Science student on their way to the lab. Running over their latest theory in their head. Doesn't notice the people or sights around them much. Thoughtful.

6. A suicidal, depressed person on their way to a meeting with a therapist. Feels threatened by the athletic looking man in a track suit walking nearby who seems to be making frequent eye contact. Anxious, feels on the verge of a breakdown.

7. Athletic man on his way to hang out with a few of his friends, they're going to drink beer and watch football together. Annoyed by the depressed looking person nearby who thinks they're better than him and won't make proper eye contact. In the back of his mind is weighing up when to repay his loan that is draining most his money. Feeling bored, angry.

8. On his way to meet the woman he's having an affair with. Is speaking on the phone to his friend, cheering him up by telling jokes. Along his way he stops and makes conversation with various strangers, a very gregarious and likeable man. Happy.

9. A tarot reader heading for her shop she runs. Talking on the phone to her sister and engaged in an argument about the sister's husband. Weary but happy enough.

10. Son of a local politician walking towards the internship he's doing at a local law office. His shoes are polished black and his suit a bespoke Italian one. He can't stop noticing how cute the man in front's bottom is. The thought of whether or not to approach makes him anguished. Feeling conflicted, confused.

The thing I am trying to convey is how it is challenging it is for people to relate to one another because they are all experiencing things differrently.

I didn't get the point of the post until I read the last sentence despite knowing what the subject was... surely I'm not the only one, right? What does this say about me?

I couldn't see where it was going either until it was explained, but I think some things are like that, I don't think it's an Aspie thing.

I guess it's not possible to immediately relate to 10 different people at the drop of a hat. Few friendships are made in the street, it's more usual at social gatherings where the individuals have something more or less in common, and where people ideally leave their own preoccupations at the doorstep and enter into the common spirit of the thing. They talk to each other and gradually find out whether there's grounds for friendship or not. People walking in a city street are pursuing their own stuff, everybody else is just the crowd in the way. But sometimes a coincidence happens and paths cross in a good way.

I think I am trying to explain why having difficulty socialising isn't that weird. Everything is complicated these days.

Personally I stopped caring about relating with others or what they think. Works for me and several others I know. If I relate with someone on the way, great just hope I can notice it and welcome the new potential friend.

I do this for fun, if I'm in a certain mood. I'd likely do it inside a jeepney instead out on the streets.

Except, if I feel really funny myself, I'd get carried away and turn it into some parody I'd end up laughing at for no apparent reason, insensitive as it is supposedly a sensitivity challenge.


If someone tries to 'read' me, odds that they'd likely read me wrong. There are people who actually do this, directly approach and discretely ask me to confirm what I'm getting at because of it.
Most of them so far, are 'dead wrong'.

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