Not sure if this is exactly the right sub, but I hope you get a laugh out of it anyway. This happened a few days ago, and it’s a story that still makes me chuckle.
So, a young girl—let’s call her Lexi—was out in a park, enjoying some fresh air after attending a circus with her friend Em. Lexi is autistic, and she’s completely okay with it; it’s just part of who she is. However, after spending time in the lively, chaotic tent filled with loud noises, bright lights, and strange smells, she felt overwhelmed. To avoid spiraling into a sensory overload, she decided to take a breather outside.
Lexi and Em settled on a bench, where Lexi started to vent about how frustrating sensory overload can be. She really wanted to enjoy the circus and watch the performers, but her brain had other plans. She had this annoying habit of feeling like she was wasting Em’s time, so she kept apologizing. Their conversation went something like this:
Lexi: “Em, I’m sorry about this. And for wasting your time.”
Em: “It’s okay, Lexi. You’re not wasting my time.”
Lexi: “Yeah, I know…but sensory overload and autism are just annoying.”
At this moment, a man—probably in his late 50s—was strolling by and overheard their conversation. He stopped in his tracks and looked at them with an expression that was part confusion and part unsolicited concern. Then he dropped the bomb: “Well, have you tried not having autism?”
Both Lexi and Em were absolutely taken aback. They exchanged glances, eyebrows raised collectively in disbelief. Lexi couldn’t believe her ears. Who does that? Who eavesdrops on someone else’s conversation and then chimes in with such an ignorant remark? It was baffling.
Still reeling from the shock, Lexi’s annoyance bubbled up to the surface. She didn’t want to engage with this stranger, but something snapped inside her. There was a fire in her belly that demanded to be spoken. So she shot back: “Have you tried not being an asshole? Because if you have, it seems like it doesn’t work, so I won’t be taking your advice, thanks.”
The man’s face twisted in irritation, and he muttered something about ‘disrespect’ and ‘kids these days’ as he walked off. Lexi and Em just stared after him, half amused, half confused by the entire interaction. The audacity of strangers never ceased to amaze them.
Once the man was out of earshot, Em burst into laughter. “Did you really just tell him that? I can’t believe you!”
Lexi couldn’t help but laugh, too. “Well, he asked for it! Like, what was I supposed to say? ‘Thanks for your helpful advice, sir, I’ll try to just turn off my autism next time?’”
The absurdity of the situation started to lighten the mood, and they continued to joke about it for the next hour. They made ridiculous comments about how to ‘not be autistic’ as if it were some sort of switch they could flip on and off. “Oh, wait—I’ll just imagine I’m not autistic!” Lexi said with a dramatic flair. “And voilà! No more sensory overload!”
That day in the park turned into a memory that Lexi would hold onto—an example of standing up for herself in the face of ignorance, and a reminder that sometimes, people really do say the silliest things. After all, it’s hard to argue with a genuine lack of common sense.
So, while she went home with a story to tell and a new level of confidence in dealing with unsolicited advice, she also gained a humorous anecdote to add to her collection—one that would surely bring a smile to her face when she recalled it later.
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