The Atlantic has a great article out, “Caring for Your Introvert” that explains what it’s like to be shy to all the normal people who don’t know. I don’t mean just shy. I mean, have to work my way up to an event (which can be going to the grocery store) and recuperate the rest of the day. I talk other people’s ears off when I get an attentive ear; I just don’t like conversations about nothing, aka small talk. If I start talking about something real, it scares people, and if I don’t say anything, they are afraid of me (I’m pretty sure) and see me as the neighborhood Boo Radley (forgetting that he actually saves Scout in the end and was just shy). I think Bob Dylan is shy, for instance, and probably not as much of a jerk as he’s come across as sometimes. The guy probably just wants to be left alone. At least I’m going to assume that’s the situation.
My name is not Snark, and I am an introvert.
I have gotten myself into a nasty spot within my own family, just because I can't stand the idea of being with all of them at once. It isn't any one person. It's the zoo aspect of it. I don't like to go to movies; I wait for the DVD to come out. I love the Harry Potter series so much that for book 6, I think, I went to the bookstore at midnight to see if I could get the book earlier than 1:30 PM. I had a real panic attack. I had a similar reaction at Disney World (my mom took me one year) when they started the parade. When I went into Home Depot, I almost lost it between the number of screwdrivers available, the vastness of the place, and the number of people who wanted to help me.
So if there are any normal people out there, just don't assume that the loners are all potential terrorists. Some of us are just shy.
5 comments:
Thanks for commenting at my blog. I'm sure the locals think something similar about me (Boo Radley). I keep to myself, coming home and shutting the door on the outside world, only to re-emerge when it's time to go to work or somewhere else (always in a car).
driftingon
We can't all hoot and guffaw like the people in the beer commercials. I think there is a place in this world for the quiet people.
I am far too shy to leave a comment here.
I'm somewhere in the middle, between shy and "normal." I hate, loathe and despise crowded stores. My mom'll ask me to go grocery shopping with her to Wal-Mart on a Sunday afternoon, which is when nearly everyone wants to shop, and I out and out refuse. I like it best when the store's nearly empty...so long as the sales clerks don't try to dogpile on the lone customer. I've been known to walk out of a store without even looking for what I need if the crowd was beyond my threshold to tolerate.
Talking of which.... crowds! Aargh. Another blog post will be coming up, but it probably won't be world-shaking.
Just one quiet person's perspective.
Know also what you mean about sometimes scaring people with intense conversations... I think they're even more reserved than me. Does that make me an extrovert in other ways? It's all very confusing.
Had a lovely captcha for this post... zumbzt! The Zumbzt Veldt. It's mine for my next science fiction book.
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