Sarcasm
Maybe it's just because of the NLD, but I'm getting increasingly intolerant of people being overly sarcastic around me. I can handle a certain kind of sarcasm, but when it comes during serious discussions of social problems, politics, class, or even just intense personal discussions, I'm generally so surprised that it's hard for me to come back to the general conversation. For example, tonight my modmates and I were having a discussion about eating disorders. One of my modmates said, with a very straight face, in the middle of the conversation, "No [other modmate] I've been starving myself for years." She didn't mean it in a mean way or anything; my other modmate had just said something along the lines of, "I don't mean to assume none of us sitting here have ever been through this," so I guess it was meant as some kind of play off that.
It's hard to explain to people why I have trouble with sarcasm, especially sarcasm in the middle of conversations like that. Generally I start to have an actual reaction to it, and then I realize that if I do that I'll just come off as being inept. But isn't that really an accurate performance anyway? I am pretty socially inept.
So my new plan is to make it appear that everything sarcastic that people say in those conversations is serious. Like, really seriously act as if it's seriously. And argue with people about it, or get really empathetic, or whatever. Some really exaggerated reaction. Then maybe people will stop doing it. If they start to see this kind of sarcasm as provoking rather than funny, maybe they'll stop doing it. Or maybe I'll just come off as a social idiot. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it'll probably still stop people from being so sarcastic around me.
Hmm...
It's hard to explain to people why I have trouble with sarcasm, especially sarcasm in the middle of conversations like that. Generally I start to have an actual reaction to it, and then I realize that if I do that I'll just come off as being inept. But isn't that really an accurate performance anyway? I am pretty socially inept.
So my new plan is to make it appear that everything sarcastic that people say in those conversations is serious. Like, really seriously act as if it's seriously. And argue with people about it, or get really empathetic, or whatever. Some really exaggerated reaction. Then maybe people will stop doing it. If they start to see this kind of sarcasm as provoking rather than funny, maybe they'll stop doing it. Or maybe I'll just come off as a social idiot. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it'll probably still stop people from being so sarcastic around me.
Hmm...