George says

that if you observed a group of adults over a period of time, they'd all exhibit some degree of autistic behavior. He probably said this because of autism's similarities to ritual, or strategic repetition that serves a specific purpose. For example, a symptom of autism in children is repetitively stacking or lining up objects.

We all have ritual, suggesting that at our core we are all religious. Repetition brings us in order with divine creation. Even things like washing dishes ... the swirls, the suds and light, the warm caress of hot water, the mind-numbing hum of sloshing and scrubbing. We make tiny little worlds inside of our pans, and when the job is done, we flush them down the pipes and move onto something else.

Which for most Americans is television. For others, it's video games. Some of us go to the gym, or take up drawing, or painting or bathing our children. We move onto another ritual, each with it's own benefits, gratification, pains or responsibility. We may take the time to do some drugs, or make painful but important phone calls.

It's been suggested that the increase in diagnosed cases of autism is related to an expanded definition of the signs and symptoms of the disease. We watch more closely than we ever have in the past. Watching, to be distinguished from observing. Observation is rarely done anymore. Instead, we watch like eagles, chasing mice along a forest floor, locked in onto our computer screens and onto our cell phone video games. Our minds are razor sharp. Like search engines, we pounce on keywords, not concepts.

Linda says that some people are stackers, and other people are spreaders. A stacker and a spreader will always be at odds. The stackers will accuse the spreaders of being messy, and the spreaders will wonder why the stacker is always 1) hiding or 2) moving important stuff.

In some households, the dishes are never washed. A whole other world is created. For some, it's disturbing when dishes are never washed but are instead left out for food to dry and crust.

"We've got no money, and you work all the time, and I hate my life and myself and politics, and the fucking baby has been putting her dolls in a row next to the crib every day since Wednesday. .... And, the dishes aren't washed!"

"But honey," he replies. "I stacked them on the counter next to the sink."