I understand that the whole “do you want a solution or to just talk about it” is well intentioned, but even if what I want is the latter now that you’ve asked me that I would feel worse for just trying to bring it up to talk about it. It’s hard to justify I guess, but the statement feels condescending when you are in that socially vulnerable position.
Edit: I have attempted to explain this further below, but again, it can be hard for me to understand why I feel a certain way and I don’t understand how others can easily.
Just out of curiosity, what does the perfect reply look like in the above scenario
Since even asking is an issue, my suggestion is to be a divination wizard with specilization in mind reading
Something tells me there isn’t a perfect answer doe that person. “Someone asked me how they can support me, so now I don’t want help because that seems condescending” sounds like the kind of thing you get from someone who says they’re fine, but isn’t, and they’re mad you don’t already know why they’re not fine.
An “emotion phase” mindset tends to expect you to know about their state and reacts badly if you don’t join them there.
A “solution focused” mindset can easily talk and not react badly about a misjudgement on your part.
So if you want to be safe, then your opening line should always presume the other person is in the emotional phase. The response will tell you if you’re right. And if you’re not right then the other person is in a position to negotiate without being upset about it.
This is such a good question that it’s kind of blowing my mind.
First off, it’s actually a shit message to only include “my shawarma fell apart” with no other context. There’s not even punctuation! Like, give me some textual non-verbals I can pick up on.
Second, this is so typical of neuro-normies: send a message with no social cues and somehow expect the recipient to ace the response.
So what’s the ideal response? I dunno. I’d probably reply with something like “I know, right?! My butthole is so itchy right now. Could this day be any worse?”
I think in the above scenario it would be safe to assume it’s the “just talk about it” scenario. With something as simple as food falling apart the person will be more than capable of solving it themselves if they needed to.
The fact that the answer ends up being “you need to assume based on the context” demonstrates exactly what the other comments are saying. Nobody is a mind reader, and it’s not generally a good idea to expect someone else to assume the same things you do, especially if that other person didn’t experience it firsthand. Maybe it works for you, but it’s making things needlessly more complicated for other people
…now that you’ve asked me that I would feel worse for just trying to bring it up to talk about it
Why would you feel worse? If that’s what you need, just ask. There’s no point in hiding your feelings from the people you want to spend time with, unless you want to create unnecessary misunderstandings.
I didn’t say it makes sense, it’s hard to justify feelings all the time, but I can give it a go. Perhaps we can work out why I think this way. These are guesses, I don’t know the root cause.
It can sound kind of arrogant I guess, like that person can solve something you can’t. It also sounds emotionless and robotic when they say it.
It could also sound like if you don’t want a solution then your complaining is less valid. With a partner you trust I suppose this might not be true, but with some friends I have they would immediately switch off if it’s the latter I guess.
And a much more simple guess - most of the time I just don’t know which one of those I want, and I haven’t got to that stage yet. I find it very difficult to pinpoint why I get certain emotions and what I want to do with them, that whole process doesn’t make sense to me and I don’t understand why all these other replies seem to be able to do that and are saying it’s my fault. Perhaps this is a spectrum thing.
FYI that’s definitely a you thing.
Some people jump to problem solving immediately when they find out about a problem. Others will sit and contemplate how they are feeling about a problem.
This text sounds like a compromise that has been worked out because she was getting frustrated that he just jumps into problem solving when all she wants to hear is affirmation of her feelings. He’s still got work to do, but he’s clearly trying.
Source: this is exactly a conversation my wife and I had
Exactly the same for me. When my wife had a problem, I always started to solve it. “Okay, did you do this and that? Tomorrow we’ll try x. Maybe if we call X” etc.- I needed to learn for months not to do it at the beginning of our relationship. She said she just needed to rant, to talk about it and didn’t want a solution. Which, given that I’m an engineer, is very difficult to do. I don’t really see problems as problems, mostly just tasks that need solution.
I have friends that know to clarify for me. They’ll just drop in “I’m just venting” or say they’re not looking for a solution.
socially vulnerable position.
If shawarma falling apart makes you socially vulnerable maybe you should be seeing a therapist.
Let’s keep in mind the context and the relative severity of the situation here.
I’m not really sure what that specific term means, but I do know that if you spend a few hours planning for, acquiring ingredients for and preparing a recipe it can be quite disappointing if it doesn’t work out and I don’t think that necessarily means you need to “see a therapist” haha.
I can totally see that. It could easily come across like that. Like… SIGH 🙄 “emotion or solution this time?” 😒 … Right?
I could also imagine if the other person is being earnest and with good delivery and wording and especially if this “protocol” is agreed upon beforehand, it could work. For some. Maybe?
Idk. It can be equally exasperating not knowing what is the right mode to support as well as not getting the support I need.
