I understand why this is supposed to be wholesome, but when I was an autistic child, a stranger sitting next to me while I was eating was easily in my top 5 nightmare scenarios.
Even if I’m not autistic, some coworker wanted to join me at the table just because I eat alone was a nightmare scenario for me too. Even worse if they wanted to talk. I just wanted to enjoy my lunch in peace.
Maybe if the right stranger sits next to you, it would be different, no?
I am not autistic, but the attitude of a stranger makes a big difference if I get the ick or not. I would guess that it is applicable to everyone, but that the pool of acceptable stranger varies from person to person.
That’s very true. There are people, even strangers who feel nice, warm and comfortable to sit next to, while others absolutely don’t, even if they’re nice and all.
Same. I even preferred eating alone and sitting alone in the hallways, but I always got in trouble for doing that and had to pretend to be “normal” and sit with other people
I understand why this is supposed to be wholesome, but when I was an autistic child, a stranger sitting next to me while I was eating was easily in my top 5 nightmare scenarios.
Even if I’m not autistic, some coworker wanted to join me at the table just because I eat alone was a nightmare scenario for me too. Even worse if they wanted to talk. I just wanted to enjoy my lunch in peace.
Maybe if the right stranger sits next to you, it would be different, no?
I am not autistic, but the attitude of a stranger makes a big difference if I get the ick or not. I would guess that it is applicable to everyone, but that the pool of acceptable stranger varies from person to person.
That’s very true. There are people, even strangers who feel nice, warm and comfortable to sit next to, while others absolutely don’t, even if they’re nice and all.
Not to me, but that’s probably due to the undiagnosed anxiety disorder I had as well
Same. I even preferred eating alone and sitting alone in the hallways, but I always got in trouble for doing that and had to pretend to be “normal” and sit with other people
I used to spend my lunch always moving through the hallways because if I settled into a quiet space almost always people would come to disturb me
When my high school allowed me to work in their mail room instead of having to be in the lunch room was the best.