Despite an Ivy League law degree - I graduated in the same class from the same school as the FLOTUS, I have been living in a shelter because I lost my home in May. I have never been able to get and hold a job even remotely commensurate with my intelligence and education. Why? I am more or less asocial around people with whom I do not share interests. Like most Asperger's people I have a few intense interests - some of which, such as left-wing politics and atheism - are off limits in day-to-day interactions. The rest are eccentric and esoteric: music, especially classical music and progressive rock though I also like electronic music and post-bop jazz, history, high-end home audio, animation, playing bass guitar, and theoretical physics/cosmology.

I've never had any issues with mental or physical illness, trouble with the law, addictions of any kind or any other "presumptive" disqualifiers. I am just odd. A therapist once told me I am just off enough to raise people's red flags, albeit subconsciously.

"Normal" people think I am "spooky" "arrogant" or just plain weird. I am just introverted, but this society is very cruel to introverts, much less Asperger's introverts. It doesn't matter that I can do the job - people want to work around people like themselves and I am not at all like most other people. I cannot read people and have no ear at all for office politics. I just do what I do, and I do it very well indeed, and expect that to be recognized and rewarded. I was born twenty years too early. Now it's OK to be a nerd, and I am a nerd's nerd, but I am far too old to be a modern hip nerd.

I don't see any way out of my current situation. Maybe I should write a book.