Because I don’t, and pretending to feels dishonest. I’ll listen if they want to talk about it, but I’m not going to act interested, and I certainly won’t ask about it on my own. What I’m trying to figure out is whether people actually care, or if they’re just playing a social game that I’m simply not interested in.
I’m probably on the autistic spectrum, which likely explains this to some extent. But that’s not an excuse - being an asshole is perfectly compatible with autism, so before dunking on me, please realise I probably agree with your criticism.
I’ll listen if they want to talk about it, but I’m not going to act interested
Yikes
Not true. If you go through life being expected to act a certain way all the time that eventually takes a toll. OP is doing right by himself the same way everyone else does when they share things expecting they’ll get a narrow and specific reaction from people. If you want to throw around the n word that’s as good a place as any.
That’s a lot of words to rationalize total disinterest in the lives of people OP claims are their friends.
Absolutely not. I’d be surprised if anybody actually cares.
Babies and children, no. I mainly care if those kids are sick as children being sick affect the well-being of who I’m talking to.
I like to discuss vacations and I’ll usually ask more in depth questions about travel since I like to travel.
That said, there is usually something beneficial to social cohesion where you care enough about people that you more than just name and role. I’ve found that it is generally a lot more miserable to work in an environment where everyone is a cog in a machine.
That culture-wide, near impossible to appeal level of stuff you must care about or be an asshole is just the worst. You really lose something critical when you pretend, and everybody seems to be in a conspiracy to bust your hump if you don’t play along.
Trust me, parents know that not everyone cares about babies. But those who do sometimes care a LOT. My parents live hundreds of miles away from their grandchildren and love to see even small updates about them. Same with many cousins, aunties, and faraway friends. I don’t need you to be interested. I understand if you are not. What I don’t understand is why we can’t just coexist on this. Every so often I need to listen to a post like this declaring how much you don’t care about babies and kids. Does this make you feel better or something? Everyone was a baby once. Everyone had a parent. Can we just allow that this is a normal part of life and not some bizarre niche interest that’s getting shoved in your face out of the blue? Damn. /rant
