Introverts, how is your day?

[Van Buren Supernova]

I didn’t know about ARFID, I have only read about supertaster. I can’t imagine anyone having one or both would survive comfortably in my time back then, because yes, as you have mentioned, people were being very judgmental.

I lived in a family like that, but I don’t blame them at all. Besides lack of knowledge back then, my grandparents survived famine. On top of limited resource and financial situation, I was taught not to waste any food and since food was hard to come by, we were always quick to finish anything on the table. I’m grateful we didn’t have the condition because the only other option was not to eat, and I can very well imagine being labeled as spoiled or difficult.

I also eat much quicker than many people because I ate with three brothers who were hungry all the time.

On 10/21/2026 at 9:47 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

I was recently notified that, according to my DNA, I am "likely to be a night person."  So it's official.  And I *clearly* got that gene from my father, who literally worked the night shift most of his life.  (It paid extra, and he would have been up then anyhow.)

Interesting, is it firmly shaped by the DNA or can this be cultivated by habits? Is it possible to be both night owl and early riser? I have always been a night owl, but I also don’t remember not waking up early. Besides school and work since forever, I bring my dog for daily walk before sunrise. I almost never missed a day unless he is unfit, rain or shine (I stay in a place that only has summer, wetter summer, and windier summer). I don’t have difficulty waking up without alarm clock and I don’t do day nap. I drink tea and coffee (tea makes up my most liquid intake) though, and while I used to be somewhat insomniac before uni, now I can fall asleep easily when I go to bed.

 

[Van Buren Supernova]

10 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Oh, I agree it's good to know that such traits are genetic (rather than you or me being weird).  But what I actually complained about was the fact that such things are often being called "diseases," "disorders," and such.  They're considered "bad" only because most people aren't like that.  So why isn't there a "red hair disease" or a "left-handed disorder"?  Why can't such things just be called "genetic traits"?     

I have been called OCD many times (undiagnosed) because I like my things in certain way and some imbalance drives me nuts even though my working table usually looks like a shipwreck (but I know exactly where to find everything). I had jogged wearing two different shoes type on each foot (different color, different thickness, different style) and different side of slippers without being aware.

Example of why I got called that: When I stayed in hostel, my friends sometimes gathered in my room, so I made myself busy while having conversations, like straightening and wiping my stuffs. I always combine ‘hearing’ with ‘working’ and they said it’s odd that I always did that (it’s so not!). I had to take the right stair (only) in one of my workplaces even though it was further. Asymmetrical rear wiper drives me nuts. I once had to leave a McDonald because the table was not parallel to the chair (it was bolted to the floor). I have human zoomies occasionally. My volume or temperature level has to be in even number or divisible by 5. Just little normal things. I don’t care whatever I’m called though.

[Carol the Dabbler]

16 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

I didn’t know about ARFID, I have only read about supertaster

Oh, now that would be a horrible combination, a supertaster with ARFID too!  I wonder if there's any correlation, at least when a person has ARFID involving taste.  (I'm pretty sure I'm a supertaster, and my husband isn't -- he loves strong spices, while I avoid them because of the pain.)

16 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

is [being a night person] firmly shaped by the DNA or can this be cultivated by habits?

Some of each, I'm pretty sure.  Before I retired, I had a daytime job, and was punctual when I could see the point of it (e.g., I had to be there when my students were).  But once I started doing software, I slacked off a little (well, an hour or two), because the computer was always there, wasn't it?

16 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

I like my things in certain way and some imbalance drives me nuts even though my working table usually looks like a shipwreck (but I know exactly where to find everything).

That sounds perfectly reasonable (which is to say, I'm the same way), but ....

16 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

I had to take the right stair (only) in one of my workplaces even though it was further. [....] My volume or temperature level has to be in even number or divisible by 5.

Well, I can kinda understand the number thing (it's possible that I do that sometimes without even thinking about it) -- but going out of your way to use a different stairway sounds umm, oddly counterproductive.  Are the two stairways different in any way other than location?  I could understand if, for example, one of them had a beautiful view but the other didn't even have windows.