What have you done that people felt sorry for you but you liked it?

Cleaning up shitty code at work, sometimes people are sorry that I had to wade through nasty legacy code, but it’s immensely satisfying for me to rewrite something in a way that’s better. Also writing complicated SQL queries. No one else at work seems to like to touch that shit, but I think it’s fun, like a puzzle.

I enjoy tedious, solitary jobs.

When I worked in a food factory, sometimes we’d have to re-palletize cases of soup by hand. Everybody hated it and fought to get out of it. I secretly enjoyed the work as repetitive exercise that I could do at my own pace while my mind entertained itself. I had to pretend I hated it, because I didn’t want to do it all day, every day.

I’m developing a secret ambition to be tested for Asperger’s. I think I’m in the spectrum.

I can’t think of anything.

@JLeslie That does sound fun!

I can’t think of anything either. Someone here today said my busy pet/house sitting schedule seemed terrifying. lol….but I too like solitary pursuits even though I am very good with the public/people. Sometimes I think I miss the interaction a little bit too, but only for a little while. As I get older I really don’t want to deal with people as much as I once did.

I do miss when I worked for a winery some years ago, I had a lot of fun interacting with customers and pouring wine.

Some people feel sorry for me that I read in English. To them I’m carrying the burden of studying everywhere I go. If only they knew what I’m actually reading.

Some of my fights in school with bullies were fun.

This scenario happens whenever I tell people I’m a math major.

Being a stay-at-home parent.

Being a step parent. Autism is no picnic, but I certainly don’t deserve pity. A bit of support and understanding, perhaps, but not pity.

Those are 2 excellent answers, @dammitjanetfromvegas and @cazzie! Kudos.

My job involves working remotely in different states & training people who don’t know me. They like to argue because people are often lazy, especially long~term employees. Many people think it sounds horrible & some days it is, but the ones who keep all their money plus more for listening make it worthwhile.

When I worked at a pet shop, I always volunteered to clean the small critter area. It involved their cages and the area it was in. It took me quite awhile. I was very thorough, but I was that way for more reasons than good critter hygiene. I enjoyed it much more than working with the customers. Especially because I swear half of them had fish questions and I didn’t know a dang thing about anything other than taking care of a goldfish.

When I was dancing I loved the rehearsals, especially the nitty-gritty ones, the “emergency! The show is soon and we’re not ready! Extra weekend hours!” ones. I loved the stage, too—just being in a theatre gives me a deep sense peace, being on stage is a mellow peaceful euphoria—but there was something special about the “cleaning” sessions with a group, everyone working for hours to get something as ephemeral as motion to something as solid as practiced choreography, sweating and laughing and shouting the counts out, giving what feels like everything you have, gasping for air when the music fades, and resetting in the beginning pose to do it all over again with limbs just a little heavier, and new corrections held in our minds.

I love listening to people talk about the specific, esoteric things that excite them.

When it’s a change-of-pace, I enjoy doing office tasks for where I work (first the dance studio, then a writing center). Like others have said, not every day—but getting to do the “behind the scenes” work for a little while is fun.

There are a lot of things I actually love to do that people think I should hate. I learned not to tell anyone because then they think it is my job and they think I should enjoy doing it all the time. I love to create different dishes, I enjoy ironing, I enjoy cleaning my bathroom and kitchen from top to bottom. I enjoy organizing, I enjoy folding. (I don’t enjoy doing laundry for some reason). I enjoy gardening and pruning my plants of dead leaves. I enjoy walking with my dog, even on a hot day. (Not in the rain or a hot day with fierce sun.) I enjoy baking. I enjoy doing research. But every time I have told people than they think they can just get me to do all these things for them because I enjoy it. What they don’t get, is I enjoy doing them when I’m in the mood to do them. Not because they want me to do it. It then feels like a job. I especially enjoy these things when my husband does them with me. He’s a bit OCD like myself. LOL