Extremes: The Pitfalls Of Literalism

Extremes: The Pitfalls Of Literalism

I've always been Miss Literal. If I was told to clean my room, I would clean my room but not my closet. If I was told to take my things upstairs, I would do so, but not necessarily put them away. Even a simple question, like "what color is the sky?" needed to be answered properly (either by looking out the window or going outside... afterall, the sky isn't always blue). How old was I? I could tell you down to the day. 

I saw the world in black and white. Gray space never existed in my world. Someone either was my best friend or they hated me. I was either a straight A student or I was stupid. I believed that if someone yelled at me, they would never forgive me and if I yelled at them, I'd never forgive them. 

To increase my success in the workplace, all of my bosses and co-workers have been instructed to give me precise instructions so that my literalism wouldn't be such a problem. Silly stories from beforehand include making so many cheese and pepper packets that I ran out of pepper (because I was told to make them until I was told to stop), building towers of pizza boxes all the way to the ceiling (again because I was told to make them until I was told to stop), pacing a three shelf area for an entire 7 hour shift (because I was assigned to that area and no one told me I could leave if I didn't have any customers), and more. At least now, as long as my bosses remember, I know exactly what I'm supposed to do.

The past few days I have not been able to blog. In a way, this was related to my literalism. I have a lot of health issues. In addition to my Aspergers, I have Polycystic Kidney Disease, chronic migraines, Crohns, and a pancreatic cyst. Both of my jobs have always been great about dealing with my health. My co-workers and bosses at my day job will often recognize that I look unwell and send me home to rest. I always thought they were just being caring and thoughtful. My mom had a slightly different theory.

She had told me that although it seemed that they were being helpful, they were actually thinking in the back of their heads, "how much longer are we going to put up with this girl who leaves early every day?" I took her words to heart and realized that she was right. I forced myself to go to work even though I didn't feel well. On Saturday, things finally reached a point where I couldn't wait anymore. I finally took myself to the doctor. I had a very bad infection that had gotten out of hand due to my resistance to miss work. 

After returning back to work today, I finally explained to my mother my reasoning for not going to the doctor sooner... again I took things to the extreme. She meant that I needed to be more selective about when I really needed to miss work. I took it as, "if you miss work, they won't want you anymore". What a difference a gray area makes!