This evening I was at Leftwing Idiot’s and I was feeling irritable. I told him this and he replied, “No you’re not.”

This made me more irritable so I said it again. This time he said, “I can see you’re fine.”

What he meant was that my tics had not visibly intensified, which is often what they do when I feel any strong emotion.

His response made me even more upset and I suddenly found myself scratching at my own face. This upset both of us.

While the intensity of my tics may be one gauge of my mood, I still need what I say about how I’m feeling to be respected.