"All the world's a stage" according to Shakespeare. He must of been talking about my daily life. Seeing as it is quite a performance I have to give at French Fry Inc. and all things Autism.
My kiddo loves his scripts. Lines from movies, TV ads and my personal fave, us. Whatever he hears anyone he knows say, well you can bet a side of fries it will be coming out of his mouth. Yeah, ANYTHING you say. (at least if he's gonna learn how to "F" bomb, he learned it from dear old mom) Sometimes the lines come out of nowhere and don't seem to fit the situation around us at all. Sometimes they are said again and again. Clearly they are fun to say and bring him some sort of comfort and or peace. Sometimes they are apparently really good inside jokes and if we say them back? Whoa Nelly! That boy will bust a gut laughing his little bum off at it. Sometimes when he appears anxious or cranky, I will start rattling off the "line of the day" at him in a desperate attempt to nip the potential meltdown in the bud. More often than not, I find myself saying them in an attempt just to exchange and interact with my son. Just give me something kiddo. Hey he gives me the best eye contact when I recite the lines from the Carnival Cruise ad.
When you think about it, we all kind of have set dialogue we use in countless situations where that annoying social chit chat small talk is required. Heck my own husband who doesn't really follow sports watches the sports segments on the news to stay in the know so he can banter back and forth with co workers and whatnot. (Whoops Babe! Spilled your secret.) Who doesn't love complaining about the weather or elected official to hate du jour? We all know our lines. We recite them on auto pilot.
Let me tell you something. Whoever invented YouTube is an evil genius. Scripted lines on demand? Don't mind if I do says my kiddo, or would if it was a line he heard in some Blue's Clues that he still likes to quote. It's like a drug, that damn app can calm him but at the same time kind of drive me to drink cheap box wine. Have him wear headphones? Hahahahaha! Yeah as if! Half the joy is him sharing it with me or so he seems to think. He's got a lot to learn about women.
Then I think about how many times I quote movie or TV show lines with friends or my husband. Hell, I've watched him have entire conversations with his best friend with quotes from Star Trek the Next Generation. Sometimes the situation as been summed up perfectly before by someone else. Lord knows I have quoted a Bravo Real Housewife on many occasion to my friends. (Hello, sometimes saying "Happy Wife Happy Life" to a pal while smiling sweetly gets the point across that you are about to crack) Why not just stick to the script?