This sounds much like being Autistic and trying to communicate with many neurotypical people.
For my entire life, I’ve said things to people like, “Do A, then B, then C.” They would indicate their understanding of the instructions and then execute the steps out of order, C. A, B or B, C, A.
I would repeat the instructions, “Do A, THEN B, THEN C.” They would again claim to understand and, again, execute the instructions incorrectly.
I would, in frustration, say something seemingly ridiculous (to me) like, “No, these steps have to be done in order. This is really important. Do A, then C, but do B between them.”
“Oh, why didn’t you just say that?!?” they would respond. And they’d perform the steps in the correct order.
🤦🏻♂️
One of the most common questions I get asked is, “What’s wrong?” The answer is almost always the same: “Nothing. If there was something wrong, I would have told you.” It’s happened so often that I now frequently joke, “They used to call it ‘Resting JEFF Face,’ but ONCE AGAIN I’m deprived of my 15 minutes of fame!”
Imagine having people misinterpret, read things into, or miss things that plainly ARE in your communication … almost every day for 50-plus years.
After getting my Autism (Asperger’s Syndrome) diagnosis, I finally understand why this happens. Being completely logical is sometimes not enough. I often have to try to take into account emotional factors that just don’t make any sense to me and even seem to be detrimental to achieving the stated goal. I’m just using punctuation in my text messages (which I actually do). But many NTs are Gen Z-ers getting offended by something that was meant to be helpful and clarifying.
That’s just the surface of what it’s like being Autistic!