Ameriblush
Violin player.
TL;DR : I traveled with other young adults (early 20s) my age, and got ditched in Times Square--I traveled with older folk in their 40s and had the time of my life. Linked to AS?
...I recently realized why people with Aspergers might do better with people older or younger than them, rather than people their age.
I was walking in Times Square on Saturday, November 11th with three other youths my age. None of my actual friends showed up for the trip ,(it was my universities' sponsored trip that had limited spots to apply and they didn't make it.) So I joined with these 3 kids I only somewhat knew.
They were mostly chatting among themselves and barely acknowledged I was there, and whenever I spoke, they would have this awkwardness about them when they responded. I just tried to ignore it and enjoy my trip since trips out of state are rare for me, and NYC was so far my most enjoyable place to be. (Rhymes ftw)
We went into random stores, souvenir shops, and watched parades for the veterans since that day was Veteran's Day in the US. We even dined at the Chevy's Mexican restaurant there--things were going pretty well, aside from me listening awkwardly to their conversation and taking photos for the most part. I thought they didn't mind me being g there, and I even added a few things to the conversation. What could possibly go wrong???
Inside a Forever 21 clothing store there, there were 4-5 floors. The four of us split into pairs of two and we went our merry way, looking at clothes and whatnot. As the guy I was with went to look at a jacket, I looked down at my phone to send photos to family for at least 20 seconds--and when I looked up, he was gone.
At first, I looked around, wandered a bit, then scratched me head in confusion. I waited for several minutes, before deciding to visit the other floors. Nobody I knew was in sight. I then decided to head up to the first floor by the register and waited patiently for one of them to show up at the desk. Nothing. 20 minutes went by and I didn't know whether to cry or scream in anger. I called a random professor on campus, who in turn called the leader of the tour taking us to NYC, who then called the leader of the youths I was with. I had learned that they were in Old Navy, a store halfway down the block. This implies that they purchased what they wanted and LEFT. I was told to wait for the youths to return in Forever 21.
30 MORE minutes go by, and after another call, I'm told to head to Old Navy and wait on the first floor there for them. I did, and I stood by the register and scanned the room for them.
30 more minutes went by. Eventually I contacted the leader of our original group of four youths and complained. He told me he was in Old Navy, then I responded that I was getting fed up and tired of waiting. To my utter disbelief, he got sparky with me and snapped at e talking to him in a harsh tone. I was only seconds away from telling him to bite me when I heard the leader of the NYC tour from the earlier calls come into the store in front of me, and I told he youth leader I'd be staying with the NYC tour leader instead of them. Needless to say, I was relievee, and the tour guide had to travel halfway across town from the World Trade Center to Times Square to find me, but was happy to see me.
This leader was older, had children, super nice, actually listened to me and engaged me in conversation, and asked me about stuff I wanted one buy. The others with her were all older adults and were fun to be around, had fun themselves, and didn't ask much of me. I enjoyed every rest of my trip, and weren't awkward at all with them, nor were they towards me. The original 4 I traveled with sat across the aisle from me on my tour bus back and never even acknowledged that I was there. I learned something from this.
I remembered that this sort of thing happened before with people my age, all throughout my years growing up. The older party however, always took care of me, be they teenagers, elderly, or middle-aged at the time. And even though on trips, they may go to places I don't care for, but have to tag along with anyway, as a young adult I simply enjoy being out in public now. Other than that, I wonder if any of you had similar experiences?
...I recently realized why people with Aspergers might do better with people older or younger than them, rather than people their age.
I was walking in Times Square on Saturday, November 11th with three other youths my age. None of my actual friends showed up for the trip ,(it was my universities' sponsored trip that had limited spots to apply and they didn't make it.) So I joined with these 3 kids I only somewhat knew.
They were mostly chatting among themselves and barely acknowledged I was there, and whenever I spoke, they would have this awkwardness about them when they responded. I just tried to ignore it and enjoy my trip since trips out of state are rare for me, and NYC was so far my most enjoyable place to be. (Rhymes ftw)
We went into random stores, souvenir shops, and watched parades for the veterans since that day was Veteran's Day in the US. We even dined at the Chevy's Mexican restaurant there--things were going pretty well, aside from me listening awkwardly to their conversation and taking photos for the most part. I thought they didn't mind me being g there, and I even added a few things to the conversation. What could possibly go wrong???
Inside a Forever 21 clothing store there, there were 4-5 floors. The four of us split into pairs of two and we went our merry way, looking at clothes and whatnot. As the guy I was with went to look at a jacket, I looked down at my phone to send photos to family for at least 20 seconds--and when I looked up, he was gone.
At first, I looked around, wandered a bit, then scratched me head in confusion. I waited for several minutes, before deciding to visit the other floors. Nobody I knew was in sight. I then decided to head up to the first floor by the register and waited patiently for one of them to show up at the desk. Nothing. 20 minutes went by and I didn't know whether to cry or scream in anger. I called a random professor on campus, who in turn called the leader of the tour taking us to NYC, who then called the leader of the youths I was with. I had learned that they were in Old Navy, a store halfway down the block. This implies that they purchased what they wanted and LEFT. I was told to wait for the youths to return in Forever 21.
30 MORE minutes go by, and after another call, I'm told to head to Old Navy and wait on the first floor there for them. I did, and I stood by the register and scanned the room for them.
30 more minutes went by. Eventually I contacted the leader of our original group of four youths and complained. He told me he was in Old Navy, then I responded that I was getting fed up and tired of waiting. To my utter disbelief, he got sparky with me and snapped at e talking to him in a harsh tone. I was only seconds away from telling him to bite me when I heard the leader of the NYC tour from the earlier calls come into the store in front of me, and I told he youth leader I'd be staying with the NYC tour leader instead of them. Needless to say, I was relievee, and the tour guide had to travel halfway across town from the World Trade Center to Times Square to find me, but was happy to see me.
This leader was older, had children, super nice, actually listened to me and engaged me in conversation, and asked me about stuff I wanted one buy. The others with her were all older adults and were fun to be around, had fun themselves, and didn't ask much of me. I enjoyed every rest of my trip, and weren't awkward at all with them, nor were they towards me. The original 4 I traveled with sat across the aisle from me on my tour bus back and never even acknowledged that I was there. I learned something from this.
I remembered that this sort of thing happened before with people my age, all throughout my years growing up. The older party however, always took care of me, be they teenagers, elderly, or middle-aged at the time. And even though on trips, they may go to places I don't care for, but have to tag along with anyway, as a young adult I simply enjoy being out in public now. Other than that, I wonder if any of you had similar experiences?
