LovingHappiness wrote:
How do you deal with joining in with forum in-jokes and just generally fitting in with a forum sense of humour?
i do not try to fit in with the atmosphere of a forum. i am not programmed for general humor. there is a subtle social dynamic that most of the popular posters subscribe to, and i have never sought to align myself with it because i have not the social intelligence to be able to understand it.
i do not use emoticons, because i do not really understand what they represent, and so my posts have a stark and barren sterility about them i suppose.
i do not see this site as a receptacle of succor for my own isolated being because i know i am very different in essence to most other people, and therefore i do not blend with their process of interaction.
for me to try to pretend that i am like them and talk like them would ring very hollow to them and it would be evident to their social antennae that i was fraudulent.
for me to try to fit in to the relaxed social merriment of this site would be like a pebble of fools gold trying to go unnoticed in a box of golden nuggets under the appraisal of a team of jewelers.
for you i am not sure what to say, but your sentiment seems to be innocent and i hope that others can accept you under their wings, and that with time, you can be proudly expressive of yourself in the pattern of your and their plumage.
you have a heart that longs for a fluid involvement with those you feel can be your good friends, and i just have a tired old brain that wedges itself defiantly between the slats of a forum full of people that i perceive as "talking toys" that i mostly want to raise the eyebrows of. if i can raise a simple eyebrow (even in incredulity), then i have some effect on the world of people. i am permanently socially defunct.
but you can raise the admiration people have for you because you care in a deeper way than i could ever. the fact you care will resolve in acceptance and appreciation from those you wish to be accepted by in the long run.
keep joining in, and people will accept you when they see you as a continuous contributor with a good heart, and they will eventually assimilate you into their routine expectations to a point where they will miss you if you depart.
you do not have to be smart or funny. you just have to have that ingredient of "humanity", and even though i have not that ingredient, i can see that you do.
whatever...i can smell burning transistors and so i know i have surpassed my limited ability to process external reality unrelated to myself.