Friday 17 January 2014

Rude interuptions

Ok, so everybody who has taken the time to get to know me, and who knows me just a little bit, will know for a fact what my biggest pet hate is!

People who interrupt me when I am talking. 

The annoying thing however is that even though people know I really get irritated by this, they still do it!

It's always been seen as 'bad manners' or 'rude' to interrupt somebody when they are speaking but it seems to have become more common...great!! Half of the time people don't even notice that they are doing it!

Because I am an Introvert (someone who is stimulated by being alone or in small groups of people and can feel drained when in a big crowd or by loud noises and bright lights), I find it difficult when I get the chance to talk or voice my opinion on something and then I get shut down by somebody interrupting me!! It can literally make me want to breath fire on their asses!!

It can make me forget what I was saying and then if it was a really interesting conversation (in my eyes) it can be quite gutting that you can't continue talking about it.

I never used to say anything when I was interrupted, I didn't want to make people feel bad for what they had done because I knew most of the time, they didn't mean it.
I now (90% of the time) can guarantee that I will pick you up on it if you're rude enough as to interrupt me mid-flow of a conversation!
Now, don't get me wrong, I am the least confrontational person you could ever meet but this shows how much it gets to me! People can't help but notice the flared nostrils and teeth clench that follows the incident and ask, what's wrong?
......"YOU INTERRUPTED ME!!"

I've thought long and hard about this, and wondered why this always seems to happen to me. First, I thought it was because I was quiet (people told me that was why), but that's only around faces I wasn't familiar with, and it would always happen with my family too (where I am NOT quiet)... So no, not that.

Then I thought it was because I was too nice (again, what other people had told me), they said that I needed to just shout at them if they interrupted me, but that's not me...I'm not a shouter!

So, I've come to the conclusion that it's not me!...The majority of people that interrupt me are Extroverts, people who think out loud, people who when they have something to say, they need to say it then and there. People who don't realise that 'people like me' find it very disheartening when being interrupted. It's them!! 

So what I do now is just politely point out to them 'do you realise you just interrupted me?'...Most of the time I get an awkward laugh and 'Oh god sorry did I??' 
...With my boyfriend and family however, I just mimic what they do when they interrupt me... As soon as I notice them start to interrupt me, my voice just gets louder and Louder and LOUDER! until they realise and shut up, we laugh and I continue my point!...Peace! :)

Any Extroverts reading this, just try to recognise when you're doing this, and think about how it might make the other person feel. If they're anything like me, they might feel, disheartened, unimportant, insignificant, like their opinion doesn't matter to you, sad or fed up. 
Introverts statistically tend to do better in exams, have brighter and better ideas and thoughts and some of the greatest people in history were Introverts, to name a few, Ghandi, J K Rowling, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Steve Wosniak.
My point being, you might well be VERY interested in what they have to say!

...And if you don't, just please be kind enough not to interrupt them! Thanks! :)

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