never say 'I just want everyone to be happy'

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of course this depends on the context, but the other day i came across a situation at work where saying this was logically a helpful thing to say, but in the social world of Nts, it was sort of odd.

a new bus driver have started in the company about 2 weeks ago and he have a milder form of autism than me but appears more nervous and honest than me (I'm not nervous at all, and I am louder and can lie when I want to or need to)..

so a few of bus drivers are having a gentle argument over the buses. a few of the buses have gone in for repair so we were short on buses for a couple of days and theres one bus that nobody ever uses except for these sorts of situations where we have no choice. it is an old cranky bus with no heaters in, and everybody tries getting out of driving it if they can.

the new driver with the Asd was only on a small 5-hour shift that day, and didnt want to use the bus but meekly got into it anyway and told the others he was going to drive it. then my husband's best friend (who is always a nice thoughtful man) came up to him and asked him if he wanted to swap buses. the new driver said 'no because i' m working less hours than all of you today so i will drive this old bus for today.' They were all like are you sure are you sure? he explained himself again, then added, 'I just want everyone to be happy.' (even though nobody was sad or angry or annoyed). i saw some of the drivers look at each other and want to smirk like 'ok....' and my husbands best friend agreed and said 'yes, that is very helpful of you, mate'.

there was just something about the way the new driver said 'I just want everyone to be happy' that made people look like they wanted to laugh, and it reminded me of a 'so aspie' thing to say for some reason. maybe uk members might understand me more of what i am saying.

I have found "I just want everybody to be happy" to be a way to deflect an argument. Perhaps that person was seeing an argument when none existed.

It's rather akin to "taking the easy way out" of things. Sometimes, though, taking the easy way out could be productive, and could avert a major, catastrophic argument. In the long run, though, "taking the easy way out" leads to overall mediocrity. One must confront things, at times. One must carry a discussion to an ultimate solution which is satisfactory. Many of humankind's most evolved decisions have been arrived at after much argument; "taking the easy out" would have prevented the decisions being arrived at. If we took the "easy way out," we would never have evolved from a hunter-gatherer society.

I am guilty of "taking the easy out" on many occasions, and I know the consequences, but I do it, anyway.