Introverts: You will understand these - Part 2

This was interesting on Instagram.

The 21 things that only introverts will understand. I'll spend a few days going through them and maybe explaining them to you from my experience. The passages in bold are from the Instagram post:


4. When you check your phone at a party/get-together for a long time simply to avoid talking to people. 

Yes, I have done this on multiple occasions. You look at you phone and no matter what you are looking at, the weather, rugby scores or Snapchat you shake you head and look annoyed. People will think you are working or have some kind of problem and will stay away from you.

Look at this video if you are wanting an example:

5. When you hang out in the bathroom for a just a few seconds longer than needed, because it's the only quiet place in your school or office.

Do you know what has happened recently? We hang out a lot longer than we used to. Do you know why? The smartphone. When you are waiting for a public toilet to become vacant and they all seem to be in the cubicle for hours and hours. Yes, they are hiding from society a little bit but they are also hiding from reality by looking at their phones. It's pretty obvious that the people who come out quickly have forgotten their phones. It must have become the longest two minutes of their lives. I know it is a long two minutes for me.


6. When people say, "Tell me about yourself!" and you momentarily freeze, then mumble a few generic sentences because you have a hard time being articulate when you're put on the spot. As an introvert, you tend to process your thoughts deeply and need time to think before speaking. 

I remember I was at a seminar a few years ago and I was put on the spot. I had no idea what the answer was or what I was going to say. I proceeded to look at the ceiling for about thirty seconds. (it seemed like about thirty years) In the end I managed to blurt out an incoherent answer and I still haven't forgotten it. I know that if someone was more extroverted they would have rabbited on for half an hour and said absolutely nothing. Me, I tried to give an insightful answer and failed miserably.

So, how do you overcome these 'curly' questions?

You have to prepare some answers for those kind of questions. Try to anticipate them. Write them out. Don't worry if it appears to be a script (which it is), most of what we say is a script anyway. Analyse what people say on a daily basis and most of the time you could almost predict what they were going say. You don't believe me? Listen, it is all canned material. I assure you.