are you sure you didn’t mean to say ‘you are’?

wow… good post

none of us actually care about how anyone else’s weekends were or how the other person’s kids are doing.

got it, you ask to fake interest in the other person so he feels valued. Seems ridiculous and a waste of intellect.

It seems the best I can do is working alone. These rituals are way too complicated for me.

being nice is all it takes.

if you mean I have to do this I shouldn’t even waste my time and look for jobs where I work alone. Step 2 is already Get to know your coworkers which for the most part, are irrelevant to me. And I can’t fake that.

Saying hi is not enough?

I have no problem with those who have something interesting to say but most of them for the most part care about stuff so asinine it makes me want to kill them and then myself.

Either I learn really fast to deflect very successfully or I start working alone. To keep my sanity.

You don’t have to socialize. But being a decent person means sacrificing your comfort for others’ sometimes.

you seem to imply there’s something like a middle point between fully socializing and being decent, which I guess means talking but less? Is this so?

You don’t sound ND, you just sound like you don’t care to change. That’s different.

the people who criticize me are not that important to me that warrant I change to some version of what they consider better. I’ve reached a point where it doesn’t make sense anymore to try to be a better, more knowledgeable professional but simply finding a job where people leave me alone. At least I’d be happier.

I guess I’m full misanthrope now

I guess it’s ‘good’ I can ‘change’ if I so decide? but really, change, for what?

wow, what a beautiful post.

Autism makes it hard to think outside a tried and true path. That rigidity is difficult to deal with, but may be worth looking into.

what do you mean ‘may be worth looking into.’?

because some people here offer good advice

You don’t need to tell people they’re being boring.

where did you get that from? I don’t tell them directly they bore me, that’s what I think as I imagine leaving.

You can just leave and not interact and thus not hurt their feelings, and thus not have conflict with people.

actually that’s not true: if extrovert A says something I don’t care about, I wait patiently till he ends it and I leave, he will feel offended (an extrovert explained this to me). I don’t understand it but apparently it’s like this.

There is no need to go for confrontation, asking why someone talks so little might just be a way of trying to include them in a group or getting to know them, and it sounds like OP just responds as hostile as possible.

why is answering a question with another question confrontational? this is a boundaries issue.

I can’t believe I have to explain this, but here it goes: if people talk much or less is purely subjective: what to introverted A is too much is for extroverted B too little.

extroverted B asked from his subjective point of view, introverted A simply answered from his also subjective point of view.

Why is this confrontational to you?

it sounds like OP just responds as hostile as possible.

wrong again, I calmly state that question. You seem to believe I start yelling at them or looking at them as if I wanted to hurt them.

my main question to you is this: why is answering a question with another question confrontational? this is about boundaries.

I’d wager the people you’re having negative interactions with are picking up on that rather than your introversion.

I don’t know, my soon to be former workplace is like a primary school: established coworkers settle in, start yelling, are obnoxious, care about ludicrously stupid stuff I simply don’t care about. This goes on for 30 minutes. every day.

I’m trapped: if I leave for these 30 minutes they go find me to ask what am I doing, usually reading something interesting on my smartphone without them yapping.

Gossiping has already started at this point.

To avoid this I’ve settled for reading what interests me together with them which is not as good as it sounds but apparently placates them.

I still don’t understand how adults can behave so childish.

I am many people.

don’t you find it tiring? It’s extremely draining to me to fake being something I am not, specially if faking implies I have to act like an extroverted interested in a coworker’s life, including his sexual one.

One I had a coworker go on a full republican rant about how this country is going to sh%t, so… what do I do with people like this? I simply don’t care about their beliefs.

I like how you present this as a choice and not an imposition.

it’s not my job to entertain you. you speak like an extroverted neurotypical who thinks he knows better.

I already see extroverts upvoting you :D

do you have the ability to listen to boring stories with a smile on your face?

I wouldn’t phrase it that way but if you must I’d concentrate on people. Societal expectations are not important to me, it’s not something I strive to follow. Where did you get that from? Societal expectations are a form of unconscious, self imposed control.

To you question,about people: what bothers and triggers me is people constantly asking why I don’t talk more, why they feel offended if I answer asking why they talk so much, also feeling offended if I prefer to do my pause alone instead of with them, the talking behind my back which to me equals being unauthentic, misidentifying lack of interest in their lives and wanting to simply do my job as hostility.

Other people are not important to me because I care about them (at least coworkers). They are “important” because I care how they can make my life difficult, the unnecessary drama they create, I don’t want a workplace where I have to fake interest in them so they don’t feel offended and start badmouthing you.

I enjoyed reading your post, but Im the laziest sob to ever walk on earth and while I can promise to pay attention, I don’t believe I’m gonna follow through.

because he engages, won’t disengage and I don’t know how to politely tell him to piss off.

I don’t want drama and people like this have a tendency for that.

nobody forces you to read em

I’ve worked in jobs with plenty of downtime, but have never worked in one where I could just wander off to exercise or read a book openly. I was expected to be finding things to do or to at least appear busy and engaged.

good point, this changes the calculus

The only thing that maintains sanity is having something to do to distract yourself

I don’t see why reading or writing poetry don’t accomplish that

I don’t know if you’re complaining but if you are, I don’t understand you. I want to be you.

earning money doing almost nothing is meaningless? You earn money for doing nothing! and you cannot be fired, so…