It is now midway through September and soon there will be a chill in the air and on September 21st, summer officially ends. Kids are back to school, college students are beginning another semester at the local college and soon the warm summer months will be history. For me, it was a wasted summer like all my summers. I was able to keep busy at work but still it can be tough spending summer nights with nobody to share it with.
There are some nights that reminded me of how tough it can be to spend summer without someone to share it with. One night in May I was in Salt Lake City hanging outside around 11 PM just when the noise of the hustle and bustle of the daytime starts to subside. With fewer cars there isn’t the constant sound of cars driving throughout the city, a lot of people have gone inside late at night and you can hear noises you normally don’t hear such as the hum of electrical generators and in the distance occasional sounds of people talking. The stars are out and the city lights make such a beautiful scene. Not only do I consider this time a romantic time that I wish I could share with a special someone, it reminds me of my of childhood. We lived next door to a farm (no animals, just alfalfa and sometimes our neighbor grew corn). I always enjoyed the quiet time at my parents house watching the stars and looking over at the city lights and mountains in the distance. The mountains appear as a silhouette in the darkness and sometimes you can see a small campfire or someone using flashlights on the side of the mountain. I also enjoyed the distant hum of electrical generators, the sound of water trickling through our neighbor’s irrigation streams, and being able to hear sounds you normally don’t hear during the daytime hours.
One night I was waiting for the UTA (Utah Transit Authority) Frontrunner to pick me up. Since it was the Month of May it was chilly outside. I noticed a couple probably in their late teens or early 20s who were also waiting. The woman was wearing shorts, and a short sleeve top and was shivering. He boyfriend offered his jacket to her but she was still cold so they cuddled. This is something that I wished I could do with some woman but there are no women who love me. I get jealous seeing men who are successful with women since I have longed for a chance to share some quality time with a woman who truly loves me and enjoys my company as much as I enjoy her company. It’s very hard to deal with people who constantly hate you and crave social contact but cannot initiate social contact because you are just wired differently and the average woman would never understand this or be willing to spend time with such a person since it is awkward to them and hard for them to love someone who may appear normal in most aspects but also has quirks that they simply cannot deal with. In addition, few women like men who are shorter than 5’8″ and the ones who do would rather remain single for the rest of their life hoping to find that “tall, dark, and handsome guy” than spend time with a shorter guy. At 5’4″, I’m not at the minimum height that women consider as date worthy which is another strike against me. This couple boarded the same rail car as I was in and on the way to Ogden they cuddled and she eventually fell asleep in his arms. This is also something I also have longed for my entire life and was such a tender moment for her boyfriend. Earlier in the month I was at a local Salt Lake City restaurant that I frequent (without a date of course) called The Market Street Grill that is one of the best restaurants in Utah for seafood. I happened to pick a night that happened to be prom night at a local high school which brings back bad memories for me since I was never able to find a date to the prom back in high school. The women were dressed up for their date something that I have never had happen in the few dates I have been on. The women I went on dates with wore casual clothes and no fancy dress or high heels. My dates wore long sleeve shirts, long pants, and tennis shoes. I always longed for the chance to go to a prom but with no women interested in dating me (especially for a big event like the prom), I was just out of luck. Less than a handful of women were even remotely interested in me. For most women in high school I was a second class student and some women even were offended if I tried to talk to them so asking a woman to the prom was a losing battle. A lot of women acted nice to me but more out of pity, they weren’t interested in spending time with me. Very little changed when I reached adulthood. A lot Women still snub me but I was able to find some dates but not women who cared enough to wear clothing other than casual dress and most women wouldn’t be caught dead on a date with me. Especially a date to a major social function that others may see us and it is an event where casual dress is not recommended. The women I meet really aren’t trying to impress me on a date. I know a lot of friends who had women show up on dates dressed to impress them going all out including getting their hair done, nails painted, and buying a special outfit for the date.
Since a lot of classmates that I use to go to school with are married, I am often reminded of the disadvantages of being single for the rest of my life. If I have a bad day, I have nobody to talk to. I don’t have someone who is supportive and will listen to me if I have a personal problem. I will never be a father or a grandfather. Since people in my age group are married or at least in a relationship, I really can’t spend time with people even if I was able to make friends. There really isn’t a cure for loneliness. I can’t plan a romantic candlelight dinner because I don’t have a women who loves me. I don’t have a woman who cares about me who I can also care about. If I want to go to a movie or on vacation, I have to go alone. It has been hard throughout my life to see guys succeed with women even without trying. Some guys didn’t even have to put fourth effort because women are attracted to them and are willing to initiate contact with them if they didn’t make the first move. I’ve never had a woman come out admitting she loves me and most likely there never was such a woman. The women I’ve approached were not interested in me and in some cases made sure that I knew this such as making derogatory comments towards me every time they see me. I have one woman who I admitted I had a crush on clear back in grade school who to this day continues to call me names if she happens to see me. I recently was at a fast food place of all places and heard someone call my name. When I looked over there she was with her kids and she made some derogatory comments towards me right in front of her kids. I had this crush over 30 years ago and when she treated me like trash after finding out I had a crush on her several years ago, I lost all interests in her but throughout my time in school she would remind me every time she saw me that she didn’t like me. It’s amazing that after 30 years she still doesn’t seem to realize that I lost interests in her even though throughout grade school and high school I told her that I lost interests in her and tried to avoid her. I no longer saw her as attractive and didn’t want anything to do with her. At first I didn’t recognize when she called my name. For some reason she could easily recognize me. I do have to admit that I’m not that good at remembering faces and initially didn’t recognize her. It’s bad enough to be unattractive and not considered an eligible bachelor to women.
With the warm weather it is always a great time to spend time with a special someone during the summer months. Whether it is at noon when it is hot outside or at night enjoying the evening sky nothing beats spending some quality time with a woman. Summer is also a great time to go on vacation with a special someone and enjoy exploring the world around us. Unlike a lot of guys, I really don’t have fond memories of spending the summer with a special someone. There are some guys who can take women for granted and treat them like crap and not worry about being unable to find another woman to spend time with. I’ve always wondered about these guys and how they can find women willing to spend time with them when most likely women start hearing stories about how they or a friend were treated like crap by this guy and eventually you would think he would be unable to find women willing to spend time with him. These guys have no idea how lucky they are and some guys can hardly find a date and they could easily find themselves in the same shoes as these men who cannot find dates or spend quality time with a woman. There has to be a point where there are so many women who have been mistreated by this guy that women would warn others to stay away from him because either they or one of their friends were mistreated by him. For some reason they never have this happen to them and sometimes it is well known by nearly all women how he treats women.
It is the end of yet another summer and there really isn’t much to reflect on other than I have been able to take my mind off of women for short periods as I am working hard on a project at work that has required overtime. Still, whenever I go to a movie, go out for dinner, go to the store, or take a walk, I always see some lucky guy who has a woman with him. It’s only natural for all humans to crave interaction with others, especially members of the opposite sex. For someone with Aspergers this may be difficult since we have difficulties socializing and may appear normal at times and awkward at other times. Sometimes how we act gives people a false impression that we don’t want to be with others. We can be quiet and not seem to have anything to say, other times we can have too much to say and not pick up visual cues from someone that they are getting bored or they want us to stop talking about the subject we are discussing. It’s very hard to approach a woman and talk to her then later find out that you made her uncomfortable and she was acting nice to not be rude. Our emotions can seem flat and we may appear unemotional. Sometimes I have inconsistent emotions where I will be talking about something that is sad and be smiling when I truly see what I am talking about as sad but my range of emotions and voice inflection make it appear otherwise. Sometimes I have an intense gaze and women are uncomfortable with this. I’m not always in the mood to talk and sometimes have a hard time expressing my emotions. A lot of women are afraid of me thinking I am someone who will hurt them because of my lacking of emotions. People with Aspergers want to be part of conversations and be in a relationship with a special someone but with their limited range of emotions this can be difficult or in some cases impossible.
Note on religious comments:
I have had some people post “find Jesus” messages and even advertisements to join a particular religion. Others offer a very simple reason for my problems and a simple solution: pray and build a relationship with God. For various reasons I will not publish religious comments. I realize that the people who post these comments are simply trying to share their beliefs with me or potential readers and offer help but like politics, religion is a very controversial subject. I apologize to the people who post religious comments but as a general rule I won’t publish any religious comments just as I don’t publish political comments.