There's two kinds of weirdos. Kind one is the one who goes out of his way to be weird. He's the one who deliberately dresses and acts nutty. Perhaps for fun, perhaps to make a statement. Then there's the sap who doesn't try to be weird but it happens anyway.
I'm the second type. I never go out of my way to say or do something strange. It just happens. It's like I lack the normal meter (normalmeter?) in my head that knows what's socially acceptable and what's not.
For example, it wasn't until I was in my twenties where it finally clicked that when someone asked how I was, I was supposed to answer and then ask them how they were. It wasn't that I didn't care. In my head I was answering a question. I figured they'd tell me how they were if they wanted to. What a charmer I was. About ten years ago I learned that you were supposed to look someone in the eyes when you talked to them.
Not that I'm an outcast. I get along fine with others. Except I'll say something that I think is normal and get feedback like this:
- "What a thing to say!"
- "You're a trip!"
- Rolls eyes and gives a can-you-believe-this-idiot look to friend
- "Huh?"
I know precisely what you mean. In my own experience, when someone asks "How are you?", I never ask in return... I just answer. "OK.","not bad","I'm alright".
ReplyDeleteI bring this up because I sometimes hear a response to *my* response, as if they didn't actually pay attention to the sounds I made when I answered, they just assumed I asked "how are you?" in return as a part of my repsonse!
"Hi! How are you?"
"OK."
"Pretty good!"
I am amazed how often I hear people answering a question I never asked.