Just Fly Away

In this post I wanted to talk briefly about something that came to my mind earlier.  It was actually based off something that happened at work today.  I stock shelves at a local grocery store.  How many people can remember going to the grocery store and seeing a bird flying around the store?  When I went to get some water up front, I came across some coworkers who were discussing how to get the bird out of the store.  The bird in question was sitting on broad windows facing the parking lot.

This bird kept on flying from one window pane to the next trying to find a way out of the store.  It was cheeping frantically.  It could see the way out through the glass but didn't understand what was in its way.  All it wanted to do was fly away.

It doesn't sound like much to a lot of people, but I know exactly what it feels like to face a barrier that I don't understand, which keeps me from what I desperately want.  That was what it was like growing up with autism.  I was like that bird, facing barriers that I didn't understand.  Barriers that no one could explain to me.  All I wanted was to be understood.  It was no wonder I felt sorry for the poor bird.

This is just something to think about.