Dilemma about an offer of a phone number
I fear this post may end up being long so I apologise in advance. I am a 25year old girl and have just realised I have aspergers or high functioning autism or something on the spectrum. What ever it is means I have never had may friends and in group/party situations I can think of anything to say to anyone so usually end up standing on my own and/or going home early. I dont drink or like going to nightclubs, I can tolerate pubs but people there expect you to drink alcohol and chat and make eye contact with other people so I would not say I feel comfortable there. I can talk to people on a certain subject like work or a holiday I went on but I find small talk difficult. I dont have any friends at the moment but do have short conversations with work collegues from time to time. Anyway the dilemma is: I mentioned to a lad at work who I vaguely know, that I go camping and walking and he said I think you would really get on with my friend X. Later I looked X up on facebook and thought he wasnt that good looking but had photos of himself climbing walking and of the countryside which are better than photos of being drunk in clubs. But his last log in was Nov 2010. A few days later the collegue repeated what he'd said before and added "if you are up for a sort of blind date I could give you his phone number or give him your number if you want". I must add I havent told anyone apart from my family that I suspect I have aspergers, I think people at work think Im normal but a bit quiet or I that I don’t like then. So at the time my reaction was to say no because I imagined meeting a stranger in a bar or restaurant to talk for hours and I would not find this activity enjoyable even if I was with someone I knew well. So I said no. Then I came to thinking Ive got to go on a date at some point and x cant be all that bad or my collegue would not have suggested him, would he? I spoke to my mother and sister about this and they, being NT, said go for it, you could arrange to go out for a walk or something like that and not in a pub. But I dont know where to start and I get embarrassed talking about relationships with my family because I dont feel mature enough ie I feel 15 I think that is related to aspergers. Anyway I definitely dont do phone conversations unless I have a script and I cant imagine talking to a stranger who’s expecting me to lead the conversation, make him like me and invite him somewhere, I just dont have that sort of confidence. And I dont want to come across as a chatty and forward person because x would be dissappointed if he found I enjoy sitting in silence and that he would have to take the lead in all future conversations. Right now imagining going for a walk with a stranger makes me feel sick and shakey but half of me still thinks I need to make the jump sometime., how bad can it really go, and the other half of me says you could be abducted.
Any advice on whether to go for it, and how without a phone conversation, and what he will think of my quietness, would be much appreciated.
I fear this post may end up being long so I apologise in advance. I am a 25year old girl and have just realised I have aspergers or high functioning autism or something on the spectrum.
What ever it is means I have never had may friends and in group/party situations I can think of anything to say to anyone so usually end up standing on my own and/or going home early. I dont drink or like going to nightclubs, I can tolerate pubs but people there expect you to drink alcohol and chat and make eye contact with other people so I would not say I feel comfortable there. I can talk to people on a certain subject like work or a holiday I went on but I find small talk difficult. I dont have any friends at the moment but do have short conversations with work collegues from time to time.
Anyway the dilemma is: I mentioned to a lad at work who I vaguely know, that I go camping and walking and he said I think you would really get on with my friend X. Later I looked X up on facebook and thought he wasnt that good looking but had photos of himself climbing walking and of the countryside which are better than photos of being drunk in clubs. But his last log in was Nov 2010.
A few days later the collegue repeated what he'd said before and added "if you are up for a sort of blind date I could give you his phone number or give him your number if you want". I must add I havent told anyone apart from my family that I suspect I have aspergers, I think people at work think Im normal but a bit quiet or I that I don’t like then.
So at the time my reaction was to say no because I imagined meeting a stranger in a bar or restaurant to talk for hours and I would not find this activity enjoyable even if I was with someone I knew well. So I said no. Then I came to thinking Ive got to go on a date at some point and x cant be all that bad or my collegue would not have suggested him, would he? I spoke to my mother and sister about this and they, being NT, said go for it, you could arrange to go out for a walk or something like that and not in a pub.
But I dont know where to start and I get embarrassed talking about relationships with my family because I dont feel mature enough ie I feel 15 I think that is related to aspergers. Anyway I definitely dont do phone conversations unless I have a script and I cant imagine talking to a stranger who’s expecting me to lead the conversation, make him like me and invite him somewhere, I just dont have that sort of confidence. And I dont want to come across as a chatty and forward person because x would be dissappointed if he found I enjoy sitting in silence and that he would have to take the lead in all future conversations.
Right now imagining going for a walk with a stranger makes me feel sick and shakey but half of me still thinks I need to make the jump sometime., how bad can it really go, and the other half of me says you could be abducted.
Any advice on whether to go for it, and how without a phone conversation, and what he will think of my quietness, would be much appreciated.
Any advice on whether to go for it, and how without a phone conversation, and what he will think of my quietness, would be much appreciated.
I vote for "none of the above"
I would ask the collegue to invite his friend, "X" to join him for coffee after work. This would give an opportunity to allow you to introduce yourselves and chat casually a bit. Subjects that would be appropriate - where have you both hiked/camped before? What was the most challenging hike you attempted? What activities do you enjoy when camping (e.g. boating? fishing? bird watching? enjoying a campfire? Star gazing? etc).
If you feel comfortable, you can linger a bit at the coffee shop. If you find the person pleasant, but not quite what you would look for in a "date" - you can graciously make your exit by saying, "It was great to meet you, I need to be going. (To your colleague) See you tomorrow. Bye"
Maybe I am just old fashioned (heck, I'm 40 - we didn't have texting and Facebook back in my young adult years) - but face to face meetings in casual situations just make it sooooo much easier. Who needs to worry about ettiquette, disinterest/interest, flirting, subtle signs in multi-levels of technology. I mean there is the telephone (home number, cell number and work number - all have different ettiquette). Then there is texting (a beast unto itself), Facebook (with instant texting and messages), then e-mail (and most people have multiple accounts, each with different levels of intimacy). Arrrrrggghhh!! Meet someone. Interested. "Here's my contact info. I would love to meet you to go on a hike sometime. Please feel free to call me and we can set something up." Ahhhhhhhhh - that was so much easier

Suomalainen
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

Joined: 22 Mar 2011
Age: 39
Gender: Male
Posts: 53
Location: Finland
Most people don't look in casually taken photos nearly as good as they look live, so if he is nice personality it still could work out live.
Similar Topics | |
---|---|
Trump will offer buyouts to 2 million Federal workers |
28 Jan 2025, 7:23 pm |
Tea Bags Release Shocking Number Of Plastic Particles Into |
16 Jan 2025, 5:05 pm |