#viral #storytime #aita #us #usa

I ignored an autistic guy on my flight. I was on an 11 hour flight, and I'd slept maybe four hours the night before. My plan was to pass out immediately. This guy sits down next to me, maybe mid-twenties, backpack covered in anime pins. Before I even click my seatbelt, he goes, "Hi, I'm autistic just so you know I might talk a lot." I smiled and said no problem. Then he immediately asks if I like K-pop. I said, "Not really," and started putting my headphones in. He keeps going, "What about anime? My favorite is this one where, and he launches into a full plot summary. I'm nodding because I have ADHD, and I know being social is hard. After 10 minutes I cut in, "Hey, I'm really tired. I'm going to try to sleep." He says, "Oh yeah, totally. I close my eyes. Two minutes later, I feel a tap on my shoulder. Sorry, but have you seen the new Marvel movie? I tell him I really need to sleep." He apologizes. Another minute passes. Another tap. Do you play video games, though? This keeps happening. Every time I say I want to sleep, he waits maybe 90 seconds and starts again. After the fifth time, I just pretend to be asleep. I sat there with my eyes closed for 20 minutes until I actually passed out. When I woke up four hours later, I pulled out my phone to watch a show. The second my screen lights up, he perks up, "Oh good, you're awake. I tried being direct. I'm gonna watch this show now. Not really up for talking." He nods. 30 seconds later, he asks what show it is. I don't answer. He leans over to see my screen. "Is that good? I pulled my phone away. Dude, I just said I don't want to talk. He does this big wounded expression. Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I'm horrible at this. God, I should just shut up. He's talking really loud now and people glance over. I felt bad because I know what spiraling feels like. It's okay. I just need some space right now. I put my earbuds back in. One minute later, he taps my shoulder. I ignore it. He taps harder. I keep my eyes on my screen. He waves his hand between my face and my phone. I finally look at him. I'm ignoring you on purpose. Please stop talking to me. He tries twice more. I don't even look at him. Then he stands up in the aisle right next to me and starts yelling. This is exactly what I'm talking about. Women think all men are creeps. I told you I'm autistic. I'm a nice guy and you're treating me like garbage. The whole section goes quiet. He stood there for another few seconds then walked toward the bathroom. I hit the call button immediately. The flight attendant got there fast. I told her what happened and asked if I could change seats. She grabbed my stuff and moved me to the back. After I sat down, she crouched next to me and lowered her voice. He's done this before. I stared at her. She explained, "He's been reported on six different flights in the past year. Always sits next to young women traveling alone. Always mentions he's autistic in the first two minutes. Talks non-stop until they snap, then causes a scene and plays victim. She said the airline's been trying to ban him but needed more documentation. She asked if I'd write a statement when we landed. I said yes. When we got off, there were two supervisors waiting at the gate. They pulled him aside and one took my statement. The supervisor told me he's been doing this for over a year. He buys tickets on long flights just to harass women, then files complaints claiming they discriminated against his disability. They'd been building a file for months. My incident was the final one because he made a scene in front of witnesses. They banned him permanently right there. She thanked me and said he'd probably try this on other airlines but at least he couldn't do it on theirs. The whole thing still makes my skin crawl. He had it down to a system. The diagnosis announcement, the boundary pushing, the meltdown. And he'd been getting away with it because people felt too guilty to report him. I'm moving to Spotify. Search Randy Reads and follow.