A slight misunderstanding

I am prone to misunderstanding things. Of course I understand what is being said, but misinterpret what has been said. It happened twice yesterday at the pub. One instance happened near closing time when there were just four of us left, the others being my friend and his partner and the landlord. The wind had been gusting ferociously since mid-afternoon, and we were talking about the weather. That was fine, since what was happening with the weather was patently obvious. The landlord then said something which completely floored me; he mentioned that he'd once done a new year's dip, which he would never do again because he'd found it exhausting. I'd misunderstood this to be some sort of raffle, and asked him what was so tiring about it. The other three burst out laughing, because they had all correctly understood it to be a local swimming event. I felt quite stupid and embarrassed.

I have been thinking about this since I woke up this morning, and remembered the Hogarth print of a theatre audience laughing at a performance. On the face of it the people are thoroughly enjoying a good performance. For me there is also the possibility that the performance is so bad that the people are laughing scornfully. This is my dilemma in life, I am never quite sure.

My local friends have rescued me from situations where I thought the person I was talking to was having a joke. I had misunderstood; the person was being nasty, and on one occasion aggressive.

I find it hard to speak to more than one person at a time. For example when a group of people are talking round a dinner-table, I tend to focus on one person so that I've got some sort of foothold in the discussion. The problem there is that can easily lose track and be fifteen conversations behind everyone else. Another problem is that I don't always get whether someone has finished speaking, and can find myself talking at the same time as someone else.

I enjoy reading, but usually textbooks and other material of an academic nature. I can't get the hang of fiction. Of course I understand what I am reading but have no capacity to remember the plot or characters. I haven't watched the tv since august. I am not interested in practically everything that is broadcast.

One good thing about my new life is that I have become close friends with someone who also has aspergers. Of course it's absolutely horrible that he has it, but we are both in the same predicament. We understand each other and can talk about, or laugh about, the issues we face. We are able to support each other without actually doing anything, except for being ourselves, and for being there. I am so lucky.