people understanding

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone, jen here, seldom poster.

I wanted to share a nice positive. I had a really tough day yesterday

at work. I am a software engineer and it was a release night for an

ealier project of mine, and I am also working on a different project

right now too. All day, I was interrupted in what I was trying to

accomplish because of issues with stuff leading up to the release. I

was so bloody frustrated, even though I could recognize what was

happening. Strangely one of the reasons I was able to stay

intellectually on top of how I felt and not let it get out of control

was the people I work with now. They are soooo nice. A few of them

know I am an aspie, and are totally ok with that. One thing that

happened a lot yesterday was people kept asking me if I was OK (out of

the blue). That really kept me in line because I didn't want people

feeling concerned or what-not. Plus it kept me aware that I was

sinking emotionally, and it showed.

Anyway, long story short, the frustration stayed with me until I left

shortly after 9pm, but it was OK. People knew I was upset a little,

and today were nice enough to make sure I was OK now. One co-worker

is esp great, and he pointed out that two thing matter here (as with

most social circumstances) How well you get along and How well you do

your work. He reminded me that although the getting along is more impt

usually, the fact that I have impressed people with how well I do my

job (I am a great bug-finder) and that they know I am a little

autistic really goes a long way and makes it much easier for them to

overlook the rough spots. Also, since the people who like me tend to

be my betters (hierarchy-wise) others who may not know me as well will

tend to follow their lead and be nicer and more accepting of me.

I cannot put into words how happy I am with this situation. I am sooo

mad that I wasted so many years working in jobs with people who didn't

understand me, and failing despite my skills because I just couldn't

get past the social stuff. But that is balanced by how

over-whelmingly happy I can be when people are warm and show they care.

anyway, I sure babbled there. Thanks for listening. I hope you all

have a great weekend.

jen