Kettie J

That Wasn’t All! 

            I can assure you that there is no better way to aggravate me than to interrupt my story. It is becoming an increasingly worse problem anywhere you go. I have a good friend than lives very far from here. We don’t see each other very often but when we do, it is always the same. I will be telling her a story and all of the sudden she will interrupt me with her own account. Most of the time, my story goes unfinished and even I cannot remember what I was saying. It doesn’t just happen with friends. Parents can be the same way. Often, when I need to tell my mom something, she interrupts me with a story about her day that doesn’t even remotely relate to what I was talking about. Even worse is when they interrupt me but all I need to tell them is that I have to go do homework. Then, I get stuck because I do not want to interrupt however, it is rude to just get up and leave. It causes me to stand there and ponder the best way to climb the wall.

            Of all the things that can make me upset, interrupting is at the very top of the list. I start fuming inside and wonder what the world is coming to. It leaves me in a very hard spot because interrupting the person who interrupted me seems a little contradictory. Most people can relate to my problem going to show that it affects more people than you think. When I get interrupted, it also gives me the impression that the person I was talking to thought their story was more important than mine. You can see how it can be offending! Overall, it is very evident that it drives me crazy when someone interrupts me.

The typical day-to-day situation goes somewhat like this:

            “Hey Mom! I got a really good grade today but…”

            “Oh! That’s great! Today at work this lady told me…”

            “…Mom…”

            “…that she was going to move soon and I can’t wait because she kind of bothers me…”

            “……”

The story will go on for a while and eventually I forget what I was actually going to say. What if I had to tell her that I failed another test that I had taken? It is times like these that I wish people would just shut up and listen.

             There are scientific reasons that show why everyone does this. Often, when you hear a word that someone else said, it triggers something in your mind causing you to remember a story that you wanted to tell that person. Afraid that you will forget it, you interrupt them. Other times, it is a time constraint. The other person could have other obligations and want to get their story in before they have to leave. The most depressing reason of all would have to be that they just don’t care what you are saying. This can be a slam in the face and is often unnecessary however, there is a point. I can say that I don’t like listening to someone drone on for what seems like hours when it is a beautiful day waiting to be enjoyed. What many fail to realize is that they are often just as guilty of their pet peeve as the person that is beside them.

            Even though it seems there is no humanly possible solution to this monster of a problem, we can tackle it with a few very simple answers. If you are listening to someone’s story, be patient and keep your stories in your head until they are done. If you are the one telling the story, then you need to value others’ time and realize that their priority is probably not to listen to you talk all day. Also, you can be insistent and to-the-point. There is no need for the added “fluff” in a story. Solving this mass problem is going to take work from both sides. Everyone needs to take the time to listen and show that they care about the life of the other person even if it isn’t the most interesting story ever. If everyone can do these easy steps, the problem will quickly disappear. Stop interrupting and start listening!