Is it weird to enjoy going to a hospital?

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Parking isn't an issue for me, since both my home and my hospital are near a train station. Public waiting rooms are meh and boring, but I like gowned waiting rooms. It's where I make some of my best small talk. "So what you in for?" often gets me willing takers wanting to vent along with me. One old man vented a lot more than I bargained for, talking about an MRI he was getting for a past fracture (I myself was getting a PET-CT scan, which are a lot quieter); I was a good sport about listening to him.

I don't think it's weird. Although I think we generally eschew attention, it's nice to receive attention sometimes and at the hospital, you are told what to do and are asked questions that don't require chit-chat.

Now, wanting to stay in the hospital, that's questionable. Hospital beds are horrific and I've gotten to the point of wanting to crawl out of the hospital just to find a comfortable bed.

You have a good point. Hospital environments tend to be very cut-and-dried. Staff are very clear about what they want from you, they give you honest feedback, and they're very patient (no pun intended) with your quirks and weirdnesses. No ambiguities, no lies, no dumb hidden rules you're "supposed to" know. Which makes for an aspie-friendly environment.

As other people pointed out, my positive experience were strictly about outpatient stays. I suppose if I had to sleep in a patient room overnight, I might be singing a different tune. Or maybe not; I hope I won't find out the hard way.

Well, I had to go in for two procedures today. The first one was a piece of cake: weighing, height measuring, a finger prick, a Covid-19 booster, and other noninvasive, mundane tests I got to know well by now. The nurse (female) doing them recognized me from the previous visit, and engaged me in some fun chit-chat, with us going into side topics like world languages, language barriers in immigrants' medicine, and medical system in other countries. (I told her about how Israeli pharmacies work, which I had first-hand experience with, which she found fascinating.)

The second one was less pleasant. I had to have an IV, which felt more painful than usual, presumably because the phlebotomist had a bit of trouble finding my vein, so the needle went in at a bad angle. I now have a small bruise in that area, which isn't uncommon. One difference is that the nurse in the first procedure was more chatty and humorous, while this man had a more serious, no-nonsense demeanor. This is probably more related to gender differences, than to them being good or bad. That said, he was personable and willing to answer my questions, put me at ease with the procedure, and was a good sport about my dark-humored jokes when things got painful.

But one thing for sure: even with the pain and the bruise, I can honestly say that my hospital experience today was good. I felt respected and cared for, and could shrug off any pain I felt reasonably easily. I wonder if it's because I'm getting treated at one of the best hospitals in the city; because the staff see my patient chart and know I work for the city government, which makes them treat me more nicely; or because there are no parents to "act brave" for.