# Introverts unite!



## InnerFlame00 (Mar 23, 2015)

Lately, I've been having lots of problems directly related to the fact that I am an introvert surrounded by extroverts at work.

So I thought I would start a thread full of funny/insightful things for  the introverts out there! Funny pictures, comics, comments, stories,  ect!

Today I made a gif after watching Despicable Me 2 to describe my feelings about phones:


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## dither (Mar 23, 2015)

Lol,
i stall for a few days before making a call. I really do have to prepare myself.


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## Sonata (Mar 23, 2015)

I add "call so-and-so" on ReminderFox and every morning I see the darned message until I have actually made the call and deleted the reminder.  I just keep hitting "Snooze" for another 60 minutes [or to however minutes I have set it] until it is done and dusted and can be deleted.

Currently I _only_ have four of them assaulting my eyes when they pop up...


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## Crowley K. Jarvis (Mar 23, 2015)

Things like that only happen to me on a daily basis! New ones since joining as well.

**New private message*

*Heart attack* x0


*​


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## Sonata (Mar 23, 2015)

No telephone calls to make today, the reminders are three regular daily ones and one which is four-weekly.  Tomorrow will be the three regular daily ones and one which is twice-weekly.  

I actually set everything to pop up 60 minutes before each reminder, with a 15 minute Snooze setting.  It definitely helps when I am engrossed in something on the computer, nowadays this forum!


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## Deleted member 56686 (Mar 23, 2015)

My friend


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## SirJohnnyBoy (Mar 23, 2015)

Yep... Those cursed phones. Last year I had a job involving customer service. Imagine how that turned out ](*,)


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## The Green Shield (Mar 23, 2015)

I'm hugely introverted and am not comfortable talking on the phone. What makes it worse is that I'm also hearing impaired, so the speaker appears to be mumbling out everything they say.

Ugh, sometimes I hate being an introvert _and _have severe hearing loss _when _I have to use the phone.


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## Pidgeon84 (Mar 23, 2015)

Oh, finally a place for people like us to come to together... I'll be huddled in the corner.


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## Sonata (Mar 23, 2015)

Shove over Pidge so I can huddle with you.


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## InnerFlame00 (Mar 23, 2015)

The Green Shield said:


> I'm hugely introverted and am not comfortable talking on the phone. What makes it worse is that I'm also hearing impaired, so the speaker appears to be mumbling out everything they say.
> 
> Ugh, sometimes I hate being an introvert _and _have severe hearing loss _when _I have to use the phone.



And I thought I had it bad - that makes it even worse :shock:  :shock:


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## Pidgeon84 (Mar 23, 2015)

Sonata said:


> Shove over Pidge so I can huddle with you.


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## The Green Shield (Mar 23, 2015)

InnerFlame00 said:


> And I thought I had it bad - that makes it even worse :shock:  :shock:



Yep. Things suck when you're not able to hear very well.


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## Sonata (Mar 23, 2015)

The Green Shield said:


> Yep. Things suck when you're not able to hear very well.



Welcome to the "wassat you sed" club.  Seriously though you should try being profoundly deaf in one ear and with limited hearing in the other, living where the language is not your mother tongue and you have to take your hearing aid out in order to use the telephone as it is a wee bit difficult - nay, impossible - to lip-read when using the phone!

Beats being six foot under though any day!


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## Darkkin (Mar 23, 2015)

I don't have a phone bill; I have a fiction bill...all those long distance reads.  It's still cheaper than flying, though.  And planes, planes means people, _​so many people..._


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## Crowley K. Jarvis (Mar 23, 2015)

I return to join my kind!

 I awkwardly pause before every sentence in conversation. Half of the time I'm really deeply terrified and considering what to say, the other half I've just drifted into thought.  This has given most people the impression that I'm a deep thinker, which is true but not as great as it sounds... So it goes without saying that a keyboard is very nice, as I have plenty of time to make 'drafts' of my conversation pieces, and revise anything before it comes out of my virtual mouth. 

 Also, the key sign of being introverted obviously is that social interaction is draining, physically and emotionally. Phone calls, conversation and everything else means at the end of a long day around several people, I have a near-migraine and am very mentally tired from thinking what to say and moving the conversation forward without letting that introversion show... 



But the positive thing is that I'm a good listener! Not to someone who just babbles, (Or talks about conspiracy theory) but if someone honestly needs to talk I can listen to someone for hours. Hearing and understanding, or showing sympathy, is easy for me actually. As my personality type was the mediator, it's very true I hate injustice and everything sad... I like knowing I can help. Talking about problems and being that hugging shoulder is nice.

But anything else? Uhg...


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## Sonata (Mar 23, 2015)

Planes?  You mean those things that go up in the sky and are full of people?  Well, they could be empty for all I care but I Will Never Get In A Plane Again.

Eeeeek - 'tis nightmare time again.


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## BurntMason84 (Mar 23, 2015)

Sonata said:


> Beats being six foot under though any day!



You know what's also horrendous for an introvert, being 6'5" white guy in the middle of rural Japan.


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## Sonata (Mar 23, 2015)

Not being 6'5" tall, not being a guy and never having been to Japan, I have luckily missed out on that horror.


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## bazz cargo (Mar 23, 2015)

I bluff well.


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## The Green Shield (Mar 23, 2015)

I'm only 5'5'', but still white guy. I'd probably get a lot of crap from the Japanese in any case.   The fact that I'm deaf and introverted will no doubt fill their minds with crazy spook stories on what that strange deaf white guy _must_ be doing cooped up in that house all day.

EDIT:
Um...it likely just occurred to me that there may be Japanese people on this forum. If that's the case, let me just say that I don't think every single one of you are like that, OK?

@Sonata- I hate planes for that reason. And the fact that you're, like, 30,000 feet in the air in the mercy of two pilots that you hope to every god and goddess they know what they're doing. At least in a car, you have _some _measure of control.


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## Blade (Mar 23, 2015)

The Green Shield said:


> I'm hugely introverted and am not comfortable talking on the phone. What makes it worse is that I'm also hearing impaired, so the speaker appears to be mumbling out everything they say.
> 
> Ugh, sometimes I hate being an introvert _and _have severe hearing loss _when _I have to use the phone.



I am in the same boat.:blue: Fortunately I have no friends who are telephone chatters and I can use it simply as a practical tool reserved for taking messages, making appointments, confirming arrangements or whatever. I tell everyone I prefer e-mail for communication and for the most part get my way.

I really wish everyone would just use e-mail actually but that is not the state of the world at the present moment.](*,)


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## InnerFlame00 (Mar 23, 2015)

Blade said:


> I really wish everyone would just use e-mail actually but that is not the state of the world at the present moment.](*,)



YES. I really wish this could happen. E-mail and texting is so much less stressful...


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## Blade (Mar 23, 2015)

InnerFlame00 said:


> YES. I really wish this could happen. E-mail and texting is so much less stressful...



Apparently electronic deniers are afraid of system crashes.:scratch:


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## BurntMason84 (Mar 23, 2015)

InnerFlame00 said:


> YES. I really wish this could happen. E-mail and texting is so much less stressful...



I gotta question.  People get butt hurt (that's right, I said it) when I don't text or email back right away.  I'm so lost in whatever I'm doing, generally writing, or cleaning, or something, that I forget.  Or, not to sound callous, I really don't care about what they texted.  Kinda like the proverbial Tweeting "Woke up today" "Went to Work" "Drank some diet soda and it was good", just doesn't feel like it needs to be responded too.  Is that introverted or hermit. ...ed.  Hermited?  ... hermited.


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## Plasticweld (Mar 23, 2015)

As an extreme extrovert there are a few things that you can't say to an introvert.


Just speak up, tell me what's on your mind.

Don't mumble, it's ok to look me in the eye. 

So how are you doing?  I honestly want to know. 


What have you been  up to lately, are those shoes new? 

I am having a party would you like to come? 


I need you to drop these off at every house on the street, its important. 

I am looking for greeters for the morning service, can I count on you. 

Are you upset? you look really sad. 

What are you doing tonight. 


The difference between me an introvert is that if you ask me any of those questions I smile and give you a long answer...and I love it!


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## InnerFlame00 (Mar 24, 2015)

Plasticweld said:


> As an extreme extrovert...



Extreme, eh? Sounds frightening! Careful, you'll scare the introverts away from this thread lol.

I don't mind answering all those questions if I know the person, and in fact enjoy it. I think the difference pops up in that to an extrovert talking with a new person is just fun and not nerve wracking. And what Crowley said...social interaction with anyone but your closest friends (and sometimes even them) is very draining while for extroverts it is energizing.

That's why I like message boards, it's easy to socialize on here and I enjoy talking with new people because I have plenty of time to think of my response. Except for when people start to debate. Debates make me sad.


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## Sonata (Mar 24, 2015)

As this forum tends to wake up just when I should be going to bed but end up with glazed eyes at stupid o'clock and the forum still buzzing, I have to have my coffee and ketchup when when I surface, which is when most of you are still in bed.  Hence the multiple quotes and, I hope, logical multiple responses.  



Blade said:


> I am in the same boat.:blue: Fortunately I have no friends who are telephone chatters and I can use it simply as a practical tool reserved for taking messages, making appointments, confirming arrangements or whatever. I tell everyone I prefer e-mail for communication and for the most part get my way.
> 
> I really wish everyone would just use e-mail actually but that is not the state of the world at the present moment.](*,)



I like the occasional chatter/natter/gossip which can, I admit, go on for a couple of hours at times, my excuse being that it is not a regular occurrence, but the dog objects to me talking on the phone so tends to interrupt, which means I usually end up in my bedroom which she cannot reach if she is on her tether.  Strange that she accepts me talking on Skype though. :scratch:



InnerFlame00 said:


> YES. I really wish this could happen. E-mail and texting is so much less stressful...



E-mails are fine by me but text?  Most of those that come in are not in English and I cannot read them so just delete.  And *ahem* I have not the slightest idea how to text, not that I have anyone I would wish to send a message to via text.



Blade said:


> Apparently electronic deniers are afraid of system crashes.:scratch:



Umm - thinks for a bit [not a byte] - nope, I am not an electronic denier.  But I am dreading the day that my mobile finally sighs and expires as that will mean I gotta getta smart phone and I dunna wanta smart phone.



BurntMason84 said:


> I gotta question.  People get butt hurt (that's right, I said it) when I don't text or email back right away.  I'm so lost in whatever I'm doing, generally writing, or cleaning, or something, that I forget.  Or, not to sound callous, I really don't care about what they texted.  Kinda like the proverbial Tweeting "Woke up today" "Went to Work" "Drank some diet soda and it was good", just doesn't feel like it needs to be responded too.  Is that introverted or hermit. ...ed.  Hermited?  ... hermited.



Don't do Facebook and don't do Twitter
Won't do Facebook and won't do Twitter

Kinda boring, that is me.



Plasticweld said:


> As an extreme extrovert there are a few things that you can't say to an introvert.
> 
> Just speak up, tell me what's on your mind.
> 
> ...



[Sonata goes and hides at the thought of all those questions]



InnerFlame00 said:


> Extreme, eh? Sounds frightening! Careful, you'll scare the introverts away from this thread lol.
> 
> I don't mind answering all those questions if I know the person, and in fact enjoy it. I think the difference pops up in that to an extrovert talking with a new person is just fun and not nerve wracking. And what Crowley said...social interaction with anyone but your closest friends (and sometimes even them) is very draining while for extroverts it is energizing.
> 
> That's why I like message boards, it's easy to socialize on here and I enjoy talking with new people because I have plenty of time to think of my response. Except for when people start to debate. Debates make me sad.



I lurve message boards because you can switch off the computer without appearing rude, whereas you cannot switch off a person in mid-sentence in Real Life.

I think I should have gone back to bed as only four hours sleep is destroying my few remaining brain cells!


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## KellInkston (Mar 24, 2015)

*Ring Ring*
Flails to turn off phone.
"Eh, who was that, Kell?"
"I burped."


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## The Green Shield (Mar 24, 2015)

InnerFlame00 said:


> Extreme, eh? Sounds frightening! Careful, you'll scare the introverts away from this thread lol.
> 
> I don't mind answering all those questions if I know the person, and in fact enjoy it. I think the difference pops up in that to an extrovert talking with a new person is just fun and not nerve wracking. And what Crowley said...social interaction with anyone but your closest friends (and sometimes even them) is very draining while for extroverts it is energizing.
> 
> That's why I like message boards, it's easy to socialize on here and I enjoy talking with new people because I have plenty of time to think of my response. Except for when people start to debate. Debates make me sad.



It's funny: I like reading debates on forums, but I avoid them in real life. Most likely its because I know I can escape the debates any time I want. 

@plasticweld- This introvert wouldn't mind it if you asked me some of those questions.  Just not all the time like you're a little puppy.


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## Plasticweld (Mar 24, 2015)

InnerFlame00 said:


> Extreme, eh? Sounds frightening! Careful, you'll scare the introverts away from this thread lol.
> 
> I don't mind answering all those questions if I know the person, and in fact enjoy it. I think the difference pops up in that to an extrovert talking with a new person is just fun and not nerve wracking. And what Crowley said...social interaction with anyone but your closest friends (and sometimes even them) is very draining while for extroverts it is energizing.
> 
> That's why I like message boards, it's easy to socialize on here and I enjoy talking with new people because I have plenty of time to think of my response. Except for when people start to debate. Debates make me sad.





My wife explained it best.  While out shopping "which I hate"  I was sitting on a bench in the middle of the mall watching the world go by while she shopped.  about 10 feet away from me sat a woman by herself who looked like she was deep in thought.  I of coarse being fascinated by people decided I would engage her in conversation and find out of course what she was thinking.  

She sat a safe distance away, or so she thought.   I started a conversation about clothing styles "which I know nothing about" and she responded.  We chatted just a little bit and then I asked her if anything was troubling her as she looked like she had a lot on her mind.  

Hot flashes, going through menopause.  We talked for maybe 20 minutes I shared some of what my wife went through and how it effected our relationship.  She talked about her family and husband and how the "change" of life was effecting them.

My wife comes back to find me thoroughly engaged with a stranger talking about her going through menopause and about her family like we were long lost friends. 


She is convinced she can not leave me anywhere.  


I am a pretty big guy, but most see me as a friendly non threating guy.  I am hard of hearing and read lips, I have also studied body language for years as a hobby and some of my favorite books are about the art of interrogation for the police departments.  I consider myself very, very intuitive when speaking with people and reading what their saying along with hearing it even though I am hard of hearing. 


Because I honestly care about people, because I honestly want to know about them and really, really listen I get lots of people to share with me.   Having been involved in the ministry for years I don't know whether I just come across right or have the right signals when speaking but I make friends out of complete strangers  in a matter of minutes.   

My wife calls me extreme,  I am just a guy who love to talk and meet people.  I am also don't have a shy bone in my body which also means that someone if they are interested only needs to be around me for  a short time before they know me.  No one has ever had to guess what I am thinking...Bob


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## InnerFlame00 (Mar 24, 2015)

Plasticweld said:


> My wife comes back to find me thoroughly engaged with a stranger talking about her going through menopause and about her family like we were long lost friends....



Something similar happens to me as well, despite the fact that I am an introvert. I don't start the conversations, but for some reason people often start them with me and we quickly go from small talk to that person telling me all sorts of their problems, then ending with 'I don't usually talk about this stuff with random people...". It's like they sense I'm a good listener? I usually have some advice to give, which is good otherwise I'd be blindsided lol.

You're the opposite side of my spectrum - we can do a lot of the same things but in entirely different ways. You figure stuff out by observation, and I figure it out subconsciously. Plus you get energized from it and it makes me tired, but in the end I'm still glad I can help people out sometimes.



The Green Shield said:


> It's funny: I like reading debates on  forums, but I avoid them in real life. Most likely its because I know I  can escape the debates any time I want.



I think I just hate arguments and conflict. Even in text . I just want everyone to get along and respect each others opinions lol


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## InnerFlame00 (Mar 24, 2015)

This is the best description of being an introvert I've found so far:


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## midnightpoet (Mar 24, 2015)

I hate phone calls, but like others here I have a hearing defect  - almost no hearing in one ear.  Phone service people especially are frustrating, especially if they have an accent or mumble their speech.  Sometimes I wonder if they think I'm bigoted against them - I'm not, I just have trouble understanding.  I'm much better on chat lines, although sometimes I have to retrain my fingers from typing "r u a natural idiot, or did you have special training?"

I'm not as much an introvert as I used to be, but my wife says she has to go shopping just to have someone to talk to.:grin:


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## Gargh (Mar 24, 2015)

Everyone seen this one yet? 

[video]https://youtu.be/rUaj7rj6MI8[/video]

I had, honestly, often thought of introversion as a flaw in myself before I saw this, rather than it just being bad timing that I live in a culture where it's not presently valued for its strengths.


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## Loveabull (Mar 24, 2015)

I enjoy debate on say an online political forum because I just naturally express myself better in writing. You know when you're in a room crowded with people and you just get bombarded with conversation? Human voices become like adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon..."WAHHWA HWAH HWAHWAH WAH WAHh...okay you're laughing loudly so that must have been a joke so I'll laugh too...frustrating, sensory overload...especially those people who feel the need happy or upset to converse at the top of their lungs. It's especially frustrating because people don't know how to read you if you're an introvert. Think the quote from Steven Hawkings is something like " Dumb people think smart people sound crazy". You get that look sometimes, the kind of human who will pick up a TV Guide and People magazine once a week and consider themselves readers can't begin to wrap their little brains around us.


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## Darkkin (Mar 24, 2015)

Has anyone read: Quiet. The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking?  ​It is the awesomeness of the introverts.  :triumphant:


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## SirJohnnyBoy (Mar 24, 2015)

BurntMason84 said:


> I gotta question.  People get butt hurt (that's right, I said it) when I don't text or email back right away.  I'm so lost in whatever I'm doing, generally writing, or cleaning, or something, that I forget.  Or, not to sound callous, I really don't care about what they texted.  Kinda like the proverbial Tweeting "Woke up today" "Went to Work" "Drank some diet soda and it was good", just doesn't feel like it needs to be responded too.  Is that introverted or hermit. ...ed.  Hermited?  ... hermited.



That always baffles me. I go thirty minutes without replying to a text, and boom!... I'll never understand.

But, I do have a tendency to forget my phone somewhere, or never hear the thing, so...


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## The Green Shield (Mar 24, 2015)

I think one of the large reasons why I can't watch the news is not just because they're depressing, but because there's just a constant barrage of it. There's always a 'BREAKING NEWS!!' coming on every second with bright flashing lights, big words and the news reporter almost shouting it into the camera what's going on that day. I switched my search engine to Google because I felt physically exhausted having to use Yahoo!, what with their constant stream of news and other things to try and attract my attention.


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## Loveabull (Mar 24, 2015)

Something that makes me nutso at various jobs are the people who are so animated getting ahead. They might have the IQ of a gerbil, possibly less, but they present themselves with a manic smile that is supposed to signify competence? Then those of us who actually know exactly what's going on get overlooked as expendable. A huge smile doesn't come naturally to me. A bit too much on my mind to be mindlessly cheerful. I mean a customer or co-worker coming up with a good one and I can laugh to tears. But just a grin pasted on there no.


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## Meteli (Mar 25, 2015)

I'm a person who does not get hugs when others in the company do, like for example happened in a newspaper I was working in. A girl that had been there a shorter time and was leaving had hugs from everybody, but when I left from there to move back to my homecity, I got just handshakes.

I'm also been always uncomfortable with phones, because I cannot see the other fellow for their body language, and also because you cannot be quiet on the phone, somebody neets to keep talking!


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## The Green Shield (Mar 25, 2015)

Loveabull said:


> Something that makes me nutso at various jobs are the people who are so animated getting ahead. They might have the IQ of a gerbil, possibly less, but they present themselves with a manic smile that is supposed to signify competence? Then those of us who actually know exactly what's going on get overlooked as expendable. A huge smile doesn't come naturally to me. A bit too much on my mind to be mindlessly cheerful. I mean a customer or co-worker coming up with a good one and I can laugh to tears. But just a grin pasted on there no.



Almost makes me want to make a character who says the following, "Do you want the best friend for life who stands with you while your business suffers? Or a cynical bastard who gets the job done and makes your business flourish?"


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## Sonata (Mar 25, 2015)

SirJohnnyBoy said:


> That always baffles me. I go thirty minutes without replying to a text, and boom!... I'll never understand.
> 
> But, I do have a tendency to forget my phone somewhere, or never hear the thing, so...



Where I live if you do not answer your telephone after just four rings the person calling gets piddled off.  Not hearing very well with even the loudest ring being far quieter in modern phones, and being unable to answer quickly enough, I have extensions all over the place, even in the bathrooms.  

Rather OTT but much as I really do not want most of the incoming calls, I just _have_ to answer in case it was something important.


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## SirJohnnyBoy (Mar 25, 2015)

If we're gonna start naming off pet peeves we introverts have, I have one more to add. I hate talking to people who are wearing mirrored sunglasses. It's so difficult, fumbling for words, unable to gauge their thoughts. I'm left a confused mess during the conversation.


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## Loveabull (Mar 25, 2015)

Yes sometimes I've been tempted to self-diagnosis it as Asperger's or something similar. But I'm not completely anti-social. It's just hard reading people sometimes. The written word and you can usually figure out where someone is...knowwhatahmsayin"/


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## InnerFlame00 (Mar 26, 2015)

ugh, trying to read people is the worst. I can never tell when someone is actually joking or being serious, which usually ends up with me looking stupid.

The weird part is, that if I talk long enough with a person I could tell them things about themselves that they don't even know. I can understand people on a deep level. But when it comes to basic social interaction that special power disappears :\


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## MzSnowleopard (Aug 27, 2015)

OMG this looks exactly like my cat Pita! The only kitty who understood me.



mrmustard615 said:


> My friend


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## MzSnowleopard (Aug 27, 2015)

Darkkin said:


> Has anyone read: Quiet. The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking?  ​It is the awesomeness of the introverts.  :triumphant:



Which one? I searched for this title on Amazon and found 2 different authors- so which one are you talking about? The one by Susan Cain or Jeremy White


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## Book Cook (Sep 7, 2015)

"Introverts unite"? Isn't that an oxymoron?


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## MzSnowleopard (Sep 7, 2015)

not really, were not anti-social we just don't socialize like party animals


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