Today I am quite upset about car headlights.

My car began complaining about the headlight a few days ago. "Check headlight (Low)" was the specific error that came up on the dash. One headlight was out. I looked up a video on how to replace the headlight, then went to my local auto store and used their tool to get the right bulb for my model of vehicle by plugging in the car's number plate, and bought the recommended bulb. I went home and attempted unsuccessfully to replace the bulb. I concluded I must have the wrong bulb because the new ones wouldn't go in. I went back to the store. I took the old bulb out of the car and brought it in with me. One of the people at the store helped me exchenge the bulbs I bought for the correct model. I came home, replaced the bulbs successfully. I switched the light back on, and the headlight is still not working. "Check headlight (Low)". I decided to actually get out of the car and look at it (which maybe should have been step 1 but we didn't think of that initially OK) and the bulbs I replaced are not the ones that a
ren't working.

I tried to explain to my partner verbally what the problem is: "The car said the headlight needed to be replaced, so I looked up how to do it and searched for the correct bulb and got help at the store and replaced the bulb that is ostensibly called the 'headlight' and this has not solved the problem. The bulb I replaced isn't the one that needed to be replaced. There's a big round bulb that isn't working. If it isn't called a headlight, I don't know what it's called. Google is not helping and I'm really frustrated because I don't understand why the car says "check headlight", the product I bought is called a headlight, and the thing that needs replacing is something else somehow."

I brought him outside and showed him what I meant because he couldn't understand what I meant when I explained that verbally. He understood when I showed him and comforted me because by this point I was really upset. I ended up getting more upset because he told me that I was doing "that autistic thing" where I was "expecting the world to make sense for people who think the way I do", and sure, yeah, this is probably true actually, but in the moment I needed to hear "You're right. That's so unclear and frustrating." not something that I interpreted as "You just don't get it because you're autistic."

Anyway, ranting aside, I should have gotten out of the car and looked at it first, and made sure I was replacing the correct bulb. I definitely took it harder than I would have normally because I'm having really bad hay fever today and I feel like shit, and I hurt my thumb while replacing the bulbs. Tomorrow, I'm going back to the auto shop, and I'll take the offending bulb into the store with me and ask for "one of these thingies" instead. If I find out it's called something other than a headlight, I might actually lose my mind though.

(Two points to close this one out:

1: I know it's kinda silly that I'm 30 and evidently don't know what a headlight is, but for most of my life I have been too poor to own a car and also I was barely raised so it's not like I had anybody to teach me this stuff.
2: My partner did offer to take care of this from the jump, but I insisted on doing it because I like being independent even- or moreso- when it isn't easy or straightforward.)