There's always one

I sat across him at dinner.

I observed his table manners and scruitinised every flick of the fork and jab of the knife - he was trying to make a point (with a mouth full of food) but no one was listening. This was quite a common scene when we went out.

I suppose I should have empathy for him - perhaps he was just socially awkward. However, with one irritating hand gesture after another, my empathy quickly turned to annoyance and I found myself being very cold and unfeeling towards his needs.

He's like an outlier, in a sense that, he wasn't really like the rest of us; socially, he stood outside on a marooned platform designed just for him completely oblivious to social practices.