The other day while grocery shopping the bagger in my lane, before saying hello, said “Did you know Russia spans both the European and Asian continents?

Ahh, yes- one of my people.

I responded with “Did you know Egypt spans both Africa and Asia?”

His eyes lit up

He launched in to a litany of geopolitics facts and the cashier shushed him. “Sorry, he’ll talk your ear off about naps if you let him.” I was kind of annoyed. Another guy came over and sent him off to do something else

When I went to my car he was collecting carts. Poor kid. He saw me and I waved him over and said “I have three minutes, what are the three most interesting things about maps you can tell me?”

He didn’t waste a breath telling me about the real size of Greenland and projections

I swear at 2 minutes 59 seconds (it felt like) he said “Have a nice day!” and went off to do his job.

Sometimes autistic people dumping facts at you are desperately trying to connect with other people. Offering to listen with a limit can make their day.