autism

so one of the benifits of my job is that i have lots of time off. one of the drawbacks of my job is that i have lots of time off, thus time to think, ponder, waste time. so there i was at a local coffee place just having an iced americano and reading when a man sitting outside caught my eye. he was displaying autistic tendancies such as bobbing back and forth and basic disassociation with his surroundings. i was simply mystified by him. he then took out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth with his left hand, and immediately took it out again with his right. he then put it in with his right hand, and took it out with his left. this went on for several minutes with no alteration unless he missed his mouth (which he did a few times), then he would use the same hand again. he had his lighter in his right hand, and would go to light his cigarette, but wouldn't, and the hand passing would continue again. finally, he was happy with the placement of the cigarette and lit it. i will compare the way this guy smoked that cigarette with the way someone chugs a beer. he used the same hand, and same inhale and same exhale for the entire cigarette, and took that baby down to the filter in maybe a minute. he then dropped it and continued rocking. i found it fascinating.

MBM