Well, it is hard to tell. It is like on a site that I was on recently where a person made a STUPID claim. I said that he was WRONG, and stated why. Although he back pedalled to bring his statement CLOSER to the truth, he still never truly adressed the real issue. Ironically, he used the "common sense isn't so common" statement in his rather harsh rebuke. So I guess you can't take any such rebuke as gospel.
Still, my understanding is sometimes different from others. That is USUALLY not incorrect, just different. Then again, sometimes they are correct, or have an "understanding"(prearranged code(to use the term that a "teacher" of "interpersonal communication" once used to refer to such a thing)) that I don't. Such a "code" is ALSO something they shouldn't ASSUME that everyone knows. That is ESPECIALLY true since most of the people now are not even americans, and don't speak english as a native language.
You would think that, with all the different cultures, classes, and languages, that people would try to be clearer, etc.... I always try to do that. It is certainly harder in media, such as forums and email, but on the phone and in person, I will try to ascertain if there is a communication problem, and accomodate it.
starygrrl,
WHO KNOWS? Some women talk or work AROUND things. I GENERALLY try to go from a to b, and some women try to go from a to c and hhope you infer that c implies d and get to something that comes back to b. GRANTED some of my problems are due to AS, but I know that NT males struggle with this as well. But women are wired in such a way that they think it is logical. They don't see how a thing may be taken in many ways, and MOST males will assume that C=C, and either react accordingly, or assume that they mean something different from what they intend.
Case in point, that happened to me on 5/9! A woman waves this product at me, as if to try to sell it to me. She is by a kiosk that is abandoned, and I saw her coming from there, so it is a reasonable assumption. I say I am not interested. She smiles, asks my name, and I tell her. She then hols her han out as if she wants me to shake it. I said that "Under the circumstances, I probably shouldn't". I probably should have mentioned that I was feigning thst "I don't want to run the risk of spreading or catching the HN1 flu".
I HATE shaking hands, and saw her as a strange sales person. I was trying to figure out exactly what had happened. USUALLY, it is a ploy to get you involved to make a sale, but MAYBE she liked me! Who knows? Do YOU have any idea? I am seriously asking.
She may have thought that was a very decent attempt to say "I like you, let's meet later!". Who knows?