Spazzy reflexes thread

["couldbecousin"]

  I don't drive because I don't trust my processing speed under duress.  I read about people who
  panic in heavy traffic and step on the gas instead of the brake, and I think, "I'd probably do that."
  Yesterday, while working in the dishroom at work, I managed to drop the squeegee into the
  garbage disposal while it was running.     Instead of immediately hitting the OFF
  button, I tried spazzily to catch the squeegee as it bounced around in the disposal.  I did hit the
  off button a few seconds later, and fortunately there was no damage either to the squeegee (except some
  minor shredding of the rubber) or to the disposal.  Point is, why didn't I hit the off button immediately?
  Do I lack common sense, or the right instincts, or what?  That kind of poor judgment, even for a split
  second, could prove fatal in traffic, which is why I am afraid to learn to drive.  Can any of you relate? 

[DirtDawg]

Sorry, but you make yourself sound like a nutball.

I feel that you have just focused on a couple of "hairy"  incidents and assumed that it is always that way.


 

["couldbecousin"]

Sorry, but you make yourself sound like a nutball.

I feel that you have just focused on a couple of "hairy"  incidents and assumed that it is always that way.


 

  I hope you're right.  Maybe I just need to tune in to my surroundings more. 

['andersom']

I've done things like that, but I also catch mice on reflex, caught falling bottles of lemonade in a supermarket that weren't falling because of me.

Is that a sign of spazziness, or is it just erratic.

["couldbecousin"]

I've done things like that, but I also catch mice on reflex, caught falling bottles of lemonade in a supermarket that weren't falling because of me.

Is that a sign of spazziness, or is it just erratic.

  That's actually a good point.  I once fell to one knee in the kitchen at work without losing even
  one sandwich from the sheet pan I was holding at the time.  It's one of my proudest moments.
  I think the trouble I have is that when there are multiple things to do within a moment, I tend
  to do them in the wrong sequence ... which, again, could be fatal in traffic.  Interesting ... 

['andersom']

I've done things like that, but I also catch mice on reflex, caught falling bottles of lemonade in a supermarket that weren't falling because of me.

Is that a sign of spazziness, or is it just erratic.

  That's actually a good point.  I once fell to one knee in the kitchen at work without losing even
  one sandwich from the sheet pan I was holding at the time.  It's one of my proudest moments.
  I think the trouble I have is that when there are multiple things to do within a moment, I tend
  to do them in the wrong sequence ... which, again, could be fatal in traffic.  Interesting ... 

Maybe it has to do with how focused you are. When you were carrying the plate with sandwiches, you were focused on your task to deliver them where they had to go. When you dropped the squeegee (had to look that up btw) you maybe had lost your focus, not needing to do anything with the squeegee any more?

Think focus is what makes a big difference.

[Icequeen]

I have fairly good reflexes.
SO sat stunned one day when I was driving...someone pulled out in front of me while I was eating an ice cream cone, I managed to swerve, hit the horn, downshift, and flip them off all without losing a drop of my ice cream.

My problem is with dropping things. Especially breakable things.

["couldbecousin"]

I managed to swerve, hit the horn, downshift, and flip them off all without losing a drop of my ice cream.

  I think I need to sig this.  It's everything I want to be in life.   

["couldbecousin"]

  I probably need to learn to drive at some point.  Any other spazzy people here who
  manage to keep it together in traffic?  If so, how do you do it?  Does practice really help? 

[renaeden]

I am not a bad driver when I take my ADHD meds beforehand. Plus I drive an automatic. That definitely helps.

["couldbecousin"]

I am not a bad driver when I take my ADHD meds beforehand. Plus I drive an automatic. That definitely helps.

  Oh, if I ever drive it will definitely be an automatic.  I should probably get one of those smart cars that
    anticipate collisions and automatically adjust to sudden changes.  I need all the help I can get. 

[Pyraxis]

  I probably need to learn to drive at some point.  Any other spazzy people here who
  manage to keep it together in traffic?  If so, how do you do it?  Does practice really help? 

I sort of do it. I can drive, but someone once told me I look like a scared deer while doing it. I was in an unfamiliar downtown area with lots of tangled streets, leaning forward and hunched, staring with big eyes out the windshield. I've gotten a lot better with time, but it's a slow process and I still piss off the people I'm with by not being able to parse words and road signs at the same time. ("I told you to turn at the next light! You said okay! So why did you turn down here??")

My recommendation would be to learn from a friend, not a driver's ed instructor, because they won't take the spazziness into account and will try to force you out of your comfort zone too quickly. I first tried to learn from my dad when I was 18 or so. That lasted all of two sessions. He had no patience as a teacher and very little tolerance for mistakes. It's not a good combination when someone is anxious you're going to damage their car. I also had three sessions with a driver's instructor, who took me out on a highway in the second session and scared the shit out of me, but brushed off the fear like it was stupid. So I stopped trying and just kept renewing my learner's permit time after time.

A few years later I tried again with a boyfriend. He was amazingly calm and patient, and basically talked me down like a scared animal, and it was one of the coolest things he did for me. That was when I actually learned and got my license.

["couldbecousin"]

  I probably need to learn to drive at some point.  Any other spazzy people here who
  manage to keep it together in traffic?  If so, how do you do it?  Does practice really help? 

I sort of do it. I can drive, but someone once told me I look like a scared deer while doing it. I was in an unfamiliar downtown area with lots of tangled streets, leaning forward and hunched, staring with big eyes out the windshield. I've gotten a lot better with time, but it's a slow process and I still piss off the people I'm with by not being able to parse words and road signs at the same time. ("I told you to turn at the next light! You said okay! So why did you turn down here??")

My recommendation would be to learn from a friend, not a driver's ed instructor, because they won't take the spazziness into account and will try to force you out of your comfort zone too quickly. I first tried to learn from my dad when I was 18 or so. That lasted all of two sessions. He had no patience as a teacher and very little tolerance for mistakes. It's not a good combination when someone is anxious you're going to damage their car. I also had three sessions with a driver's instructor, who took me out on a highway in the second session and scared the shit out of me, but brushed off the fear like it was stupid. So I stopped trying and just kept renewing my learner's permit time after time.

A few years later I tried again with a boyfriend. He was amazingly calm and patient, and basically talked me down like a scared animal, and it was one of the coolest things he did for me. That was when I actually learned and got my license.

  I appreciate this, and I know what you mean about anxious people being bad teachers.  My father
  tried to teach me, but was too nervous and critical.  The driving instructor I had at age 18 was near
  retirement age and kind of phoning it in, so we mostly drove on quiet suburban streets and I didn't get
  the experience of managing in traffic.  I love what you said about the difficulty of making sense of
  signs and spoken instructions at the same time.  That is a problem I seem to have at work and in life. 
  "Too much incoming" in the same moment tends to frazzle me and I make mistakes.  I know a couple
  of friends who might be able to teach me what I need to know.  I do want to learn. 

["couldbecousin"]

  I seem to be developing greater sensitivity to sudden loud noises, especially sounds of glass or china breaking.
    I startle more visibly, I screw up my face and go into a full-body flinch like a nervous old biddy! 

[renaeden]

For some reason I barely react to hugely loud sounds. It is the quiet, irritating sounds that get me. Although the day before yesterday there seemed to be a lot of sirens sounding near our house. Mostly ambulance and fire engines.

Edit: There goes another ambulance.