Brain Dead

[geekslave]

The strangest thing happened at work the other day. The other cashier on duty and one of my managers were on one side chatting away about something, all smiles. On the other side were the hostesses, smiling and giggling about something. I kind of looked back and forth and thought about myself, the odd, quiet girl out in the middle and I literally

Comments

[geekslave]

*hugs back*

Yeah, extroverts I can mostly handle,but super extroverts I can't at all.

Stacey

[kathyh]

I'm the same. It does get easier as you get older I've found. I think sometimes the thing to remember is that many other people are as quiet and shy as you are and that the noisy ones may be overcompensating for that too. You are most definitely not alone in being quiet and shy!

Congrats on passing the test :)

[geekslave]

For me, I've found I've gotten worse as I've gotten older. It does help to know there are others in a similar boat as me.

Thanks. :)

Stacey

[scribblemoose]

One of the best tips anyone ever gave me to get along with extroverts was - don't worry what you're saying (or not saying) to them - just get them to talk. They'll love it. They don't find it hard. So rehearse a few questions (do you have any plans for the evening/weekend/holidays; did you see anything good on tv lately; how long have you been working here; do you like it.... ) - and next time there's that awkward silence, pop one of your pre-prepared questions. You'll come across as friendly and interested and the other person will love the attention and hopefully rattle on while you just listen and smile.

It's amazing how often it works!

[geekslave]

I've given the pre-prepared thing a try before. If it can even be believed I'm worse on the phone, than in person and I did read tips about handling that and one of them was to write down what you want to say, so I do that sometimes for potentially awkward phone conversations. But I've never tried it for face to face interaction. But it makes sense that it can work for that just the same.

For some reason, as much as I love TV and movies, I never ask people about it. It probably would be a good thing to have in my arsenal. For most of the people I've talked to at work, I have started with the "How long have you worked here?" question.

Thanks for the advice.

Stacey

[geekslave]

*hugs* I probably won't kill anyone. :)

I assume it's legal. I guess companies don't have to pay you extra just because it's the holidays.

Stacey

[tuut_harold]

The way you described yourself is pretty much exactly the way I was in highschool. You can't really 'fix' it apart from growing older, getting more experience and basically just being patient

[geekslave]

I've actually gotten progressively quieter as I've gotten older.

Thanks for the advice. I think that I'm a good listener, when the conversation turns to me is when I get awkward. I have been trying to listen and talk about the things people tell me in conversation. I still find it awkward, but I suppose with practice it might get easier.

Stacey