And it has all kinds of implications and context and shit.
How the fuck am I supposed to tell what’s just people doing things at random and what’s a part of all-singing-all-dancing-shit-show the neurotypicals call “social norms”? Down with NTs.
Honestly while it’s really fucking annoying that refusal to participate could result in some silly neuronormo interpreting a completely innocuous action as an offense, and it can cut you off from social shit, I think it’s basically the only way. The same button never does the same thing twice. Screeching rn.
I get why such rituals exist, but even when I know them I feel too coerced to actually humor them unless it means my life or livelihood.
It’s also why I reject the “bro code” in whatever sloppy form that brobros try to throw at me. Fuck the brocode, fuck the “man card,” isn’t self-confidence and doing things your own way supposed to be “manly” anyway?