Honestly, I feel like you are giving excuses to hide.... I have a co-worker with autism that is really smart because she works super hard to learn/relate/etc. And even though I know a lot; I recognize that others are just as smart if not more. There's a lot to be learned from other people even the druggies you look down on. (And yes, I'm in an infested town too.) You never know what someone might know unless you bring up a topic. They might surprise you.
I personally find the creativity & resourcefulness, of some of the people I meet, intriguing. Learning new ways of doing things.
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Isn't that called reading manga, in a language you don't know, & guessing the story? XP