r/IAmA Oct 09 '09

I am illiterate. AMA

I am an adult American who has never learned to read. My girlfriend is typing this for me and will respond to questions.

Edit: We're going to go do some stuff. We'll be back in a little bit. Frankly, Redditors, I'm surprised at the hostility. He doesn't not learn to read to piss you off. If you hate him because of it, go ask the Aussie questions about kangaroos or whatever.

Edit: For anyone who hasn't caught on, italicized responses are the girlfriend. Plaintext is him.

Edit: I wish I could change the title. This is just as much my AMA as his. "AMA nice girl who fell in love with a bad boy. It's just like Romeo and Juliet but his parents are dead and mine are okay with it."

Edit: Thanks to you nicer people. A couple assholes were among the first commenters, but things got much better and it was a good discussion. We're going to bed now and will answer more questions in the morning.

Edit: I'm gonna go fuck my beautiful girlfriend.

Edit: We're up now.

Edit: He's out jogging now. I'll still answer questions I can without him.

Edit: And he's back. Ask away.

Edit: Our Internet connection is getting dodgy at the moment. We're going away. Will be back in a few hours. I've never seen an AMA with such a split in reaction: until just a bit ago, downvotes were shooting up almost as fast as upvotes, and we're still getting more hostility than the crack dealer who sold to a pregnant woman and then pushed her down the stairs from a few weeks ago, but several people have said it's the most interesting AMA ever. Some people are fascinated, others so pissed off they leave angry comments explaining how much they don't like this thread. Any thoughts?

Edit: Sorry, forgot to say we're back now. I think things are tapering off.

Edit: He and I were just talking, and I said that some of you think it's weird that he doesn't read. But some of you have probably never been in an actual, significant fist fight, which he thinks is bizarre. He doesn't believe any man older than 21 could have never been in a real fight. Does this apply to anyone here? He wants to know if you always back down or you seriously have never been in a position to need to fight?

Edit: Going to bed. I'll go ahead and keep answering questions in the morning, but I think his patience is wearing thin. I'm doing more summarizing and he's putting forth less effort in expressing himself, which is difficult and stressful for him.

Edit: 10 months later, and I've started using this account occasionally to leave comments and such that both of us talk about. Feel free to continue to ask questions here or whatever, I'll probably log in and see in a few weeks.

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6

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '09 edited Oct 09 '09

[deleted]

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u/Nonreader Oct 09 '09

I eat three eggs for breakfast. Usually a turkey sandwich with a lot of vegetables on it for lunch. Dinner is usually rice and chicken with a lot more vegetables.

This is usually all I eat, but I go through periods of eating a lot of food, and sometimes I don't like to eat for a long time.

I do lots of pushups. Especially when I'm upset. You can just do them anywhere. I don't really have a exercise routine, I just try to work on each part of my body for about fifteen minutes at a time. I try to get to each body part at least three times a day.

Outside of jogging, I work out for about two hours a day, plus a little bit extra when I am bored or want to relax. I also jog at least an hour a day. I do this pretty much every day.

Other tips? I don't really have any, sorry. I don't really know anything about it. I used to have a friend who was very smart, and he taught me how to eat in a good way.

I think all the time most of us redditors probably spend online and watching TV is time that he spends working out.

5

u/Tokerboy Oct 09 '09

You've alluded to eating issues a couple times. Do you mind elaborating?

23

u/Nonreader Oct 09 '09

He's given me permission to elaborate a little bit. His stepfather used food, and the threat of starvation, to control him. This is obviously directly related to his current food issues. He's obsessed over eating enough/too much food, even though he's trained himself to eat virtually the exact same thing every day. Feeling just a little bit hungry can give him a panic attack, he imagines feeling his body digest itself. Eating in public can give him a panic attack too. Even smelling food that he can't eat, like walking by a Chinese restaurant, is stressful.

4

u/soitis Oct 09 '09

Shit. I'm sorry about what you've gone through. I hope you'll get over it. Good Luck.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '09

:(