I was washing my laundry at the local laundromat this past week. It was a nice, new, modern laundromat so I was walking around inside just to see what kind of stuff they had there and I found out they have three different size washers and big dryers and laundry supplies like many brands of soap and spot remover.
I walked past a woman and accidentally we made eye contact and she gave me a weird look which bugged me for about a minute. My clothes were in so I sat at the nearest bench which coincidentally the same woman was already sitting there.
I sat down about four feet from her and I thought I was just looking at other patrons normally but I turned to the lady and she was looking directly at me laughing. I’ve seen "the look’ before and I knew instantly she had picked up that I have an illness and was laughing. So I turned and just stared at her. I didn’t try to scare her physically I was just trying to make her feel uncomfortable from sticking her nose in my business. And it worked, I gave her a look like she was being observed under a microscope and she did not look happy, lol.
I did not let up and after a few seconds I realized I was scaring her physically which was not my intention but seeing she got her kicks from being mean to innocent people so yes, I just looked at her and scared her on purpose.
Now, it made me feel better ( a lot better) but thinking back when I got home that day I thought I handled the situation badly. What I did is what gives mentally ill people a bad name and also I was twice her age and I should have been more mature about it.
But yeah, I wasn’t being too inappropriate, I didn’t cross that line and I felt good about sticking up for myself, but I have to have a better strategy next time to walk the line between appropriate and inappropriate. For the record I don’t go around picking on women, I face aggressive male teenagers all day and other men my age in expensive cars who think they own the friggin freeways and I am wont to give these guys the finger on occasion or meet their stares.
Hell like some famous boxer like Mike Tyson or Larry Holmes said, "90% of boxing is psychological. So all the hostility we might face as schizophrenics is cowardly and mean but I have seldom seen it erupt into actual violence. (in public) . I realize I am going to get stares and people who accidentally find out I am a little off and that is not done intentionally or with malice, and you can’t fight city hall, so I will find better ways to handle it; laugh it off maybe, or maybe make a humorous comment. or give a friendly look.
It’s relatively new for me. Last year at the board & care I had my roommate picking on my symptoms, new territory for me. I just am not used to that even though I’m 57 and have had this disease since I was 19.
We never really know what some people are thinking, but your story brought to mind a time I went to the laundry mat, It was a very hot day and all I had left for clothes was a T and cut off shorts.
I was minding my own business but these two gals kept giggling. at first I thought they were just goofing around together, but after awhile I felt they were laughing at me and was starting to get pissed off. They were going on the whole time I was there and I folded my clothes and left
When I got home I went to shower and took off my shorts, turned out the back seam had given out and my guess is I was mooning everyone in the laundry mat. That’s what the gals were laughing at
What we can do about it is:
make sure we do not go to do laundry at a busy time for the laundry matt. People get annoyed with others quickly in that enviroment.
If we notice, or even if we think we notice, a strange look, then stay away from that persons general area. In this case the common area bench. 4 ft away was still too close, in her opinion.
This is going to sound bad, but immitate the normies to fit in. Basically, non-MI people are oblivious of most things as they seem to play on their phones a lot. This trait might be good to immitate.
Last, know that many laundry matts will have at least one total jack@$$ in there at all times. No, I dont know why. It just is. It is your/my job to avoid them even if we must stare straight up at the cieling or down at the floor. or lean against a folding table or wall instead of using public seating.
Here is the most useful part of my post:
There is something out there called a panda washer and a panda dryer.
(utube it)
The washers are small weighing only 40 lb. same for the dryer. both are the size of a regular sized clothes hamper.
One with no pump is $100. with a pump is $200. the dryer is, i think $100 too.
I will be getting to order them in two weeks as I am on abudget and had to save up.
I wont have to put up with it much longer.
Oh, yes, thet are made to be used by a sink so no washer or dryer hook up is needed.
