One thing that's kind of weird that being asexual has taught me.

NO 👏 MEANS 👏 NO 👏 MEANS 👏 NO 👏

Seems kind of obvious, right? Normally when people talk about "No means no" they're talking about sex.

However, being asexual (and trying to be an aromantic advocate) has taught me that "No means no" applies to all boundaries.

Don't want to be touched? No means no.

Don't want to go out for coffee wth the buds? No means no.

Don't want to go to dinner with the family? No means no.

As a kid (myself being a introverted and shy child) parents just assume you shove kids out of their boundaries even if they don't want to. They'll thank you later, right?

Then again in high school and college being the introvert with many health issues, I frequently declined events for varying reasons, and people stopped inviting me because they assumed I didn't want to hang out with them.

It really taught me "you have to say yes even if you don't want to".

Thanks to the help of the asexual and aro communities, I'm starting to learn, you can just say no.

This is generally applied to mean, "If I say no to a hug, it doesn't mean I don't like you. It just means I don't like hugs." In the ace and aro communities. However, this can apply to any situation. "If I say no to your party, it doesn't mean I don't want to hang with you. It just means I don't like large social gatherings."

Still working on applying it. A lot of people feel the need to pressure you when you say no. I say no to a dinner with friends because it's a pandemic, and I don't want to risk the health of my family, and they're all "Aww, come on! It's a closed room. Clean linens. Just remember to wash your hands!"

No.

The answer is no.

I don't owe you an explanation, but I already gave you one. No means no.

Sorry. Seems kind of off topic, but I thought I'd share some things I learn from the ace and aro communities that we should all know.