Something I need you to know

My social interaction parser is broken, perhaps fatally so. I know that there are non-standard social interaction patterns out there - and by "non-standard" I mean "anything other than generic friendly behavior"; the problem is that I don't see half of them, and when I do notice one, I throw an error, stop interacting, and don't start interacting again until the error is resolved, either because I've figured out what went wrong or because the pattern stopped.

For perceived negative non-standard interactions, I assume a write error: I have done something wrong. I won't start interacting again until either the pattern stops or I've figured out what I've done wrong.

For perceived positive non-standard interactions, I assume a read error: I am misinterpreting this. I won't start interacting again until either the pattern stops or I've figured out what the pattern really is.

In neither circumstance am I necessarily right.

There are two major consequences of this. The first is that I tend to stay away from social situations unless I am explicitly invited into them (this extends, in extreme circumstances, to leaving groups that have formed around me), and to leave a situation I've entered if I happen to notice a perceived negative non-standard interaction - and remember, "standard" for me is "generic friendly", so even basic neutrality often comes across as negative!

The second consequence is that I very often simply don't notice or understand what you might consider basic social cues, which means that, quite frankly, you can't rely on them to convey information. If you want me to know something, you must tell me, or you run the risk of not getting your message across.

I'm sorry about this. I really, really wish I were different. I really wish I could figure out how to be different, but I can't.