As you all should probably know by now, I'm not really a talker online. I post things and love to write, but I'm generally not much of a talker. However, you will see me talk online more often than offline. I'm what Urban Dictionary calls a "webtrovert."

However, I consider myself to be more of an introvert. No, it's not that I'm insane, shy, or socially awkward. It's just that I am a member of a group of people whom society normally overlooks, scorns and even ridicules: the introvert society. You probably know some of us well. Perhaps we are your cousins, your friends, or even total strangers. We may even be your parents.

We're the readers, the internet users. We're the ones who will sit all alone at a table in a cafe and happily read a novel while everyone else gossips their life away, we are the ones who will eat quietly at the lunch table at work or school, and we are the ones who wear earphones and think all the time. Yep, we're THOSE types of people.

Actually, we're actually a pretty large group. Sadly, society tends to not recognize how obnoxious they can be, and when we speak up, they label us as "rude, anti-social people who are self-absorbed."

Well, I definitely have to disagree with such a prejudiced statement. A lot of introverts like to talk. It's not that we're antisocial; a lot of us enjoy the company of others. However, we prefer to talk to one friend or associate at a time. We don't enjoy being in crowds or having thousands of friends like you extroverts do. We're happy being with only one person at a time.

It's just that we prefer our old friend, solitude, above all else. There's just something great about silence; it's comfortable, it's pleasurable. It's a nice way to relax after being stuck all day in a society that never stops yammering. It's a nice way to think things over.

But, noise is one of the worst maladies to deal with to an introvert. They are more sensitive to noise than extroverts are, so while extroverts seek out noise, introverts prefer to avoid it at all costs. Most noises like cars, music, and crowds can be easily blocked out. But humans themselves are by far the most talkative, obnoxious, self-centered species on the planet. (The most notorious examples of non-stop talkers are children. While others may get on my case about this, I just dislike young kids because they don't stop talking and make lots of noise. They're at that stage in their life where they're too self-centered to see other people's feelings. Babies are on the same list as well for me.)

The sad thing is that a lot of us don't seem to appreciate silence and being left to our own thoughts. We always, always, always want to move our mouths. Extroverts are extremely obnoxious to people like me and other introverts because of four problems that tend to get in the way of them communicating effectively with introverts:the fact that some of them are not even aware of whether or not the people they are talking to are interested in what they are talking about, the fact that they don't seem to stop and listen to other people, and the fact that they don't seem to think about what they say before they say it.

First, the biggest problem I have with extroverts is that they seem not to notice when people are uninterested in what they discuss. I bet everyone knows someone like this:you know, a person who talks so much and about such stupid things that you just want to scream at them and tell them to shut up. However, you can't, so you just have to stand there grinning like a moron and tell them to continue on.

This is a major key in communication. For example, if you're a stand-up comedian and you tell the audience jokes YOU think are funny but they happen to think differently, then you may have to fix your act so you interest your audience more. The same goes for social conversation. Ever notice that sometimes people lose interest in what you say? That could be the biggest indicator that you may talk too much.

If they notice people aren't interested, they should change the subject. It's only fair.

Second, they don't seem to stop and LISTEN. Introverts prefer to listen to what people say in conversation and then process what they say in their minds. Then they think over it for a bit and come up with something to say in reply. Sometimes, we don't speak unless we have something to say, and that's okay. So, if we don't talk to you right away, it's not because we're ignoring you, or being rude. We simply want to think a bit.

Introverts tend to think more on our own thoughts, so when someone interrupts our line of thought, the end result can be extremely frustrating. Here's a pet peeve of mine: trivial talk. You know, gossiping about people when they're not around, talk about the weather, what people are wearing, or other obvious things that don't seem to be stated. On Friday, on my way to work, I had the pleasure (not) of having to sit near two obnoxious fellows who would not stop talking. One was seated near me and talking to his companion, who was sitting a few seats away. The two of them were YELLING at each other, and my ears started to hurt.

I keep on getting headaches when too many people are talking too much, so I asked them politely to stop talking, and they didn't. So I moved away to a different seat. One of them followed me, much to my horror. It was so infuriating to hear (Let's just call them Captain Obvious One and 2) point out amazing things that I didn't know before.

Examples of such awe-inspiring dialogue is listed below:

"It's raining!"

"Look at that truck!"

Whoop-dee-doo-dah. What else will you come up with next? Oh, so informative you fellows are! I'm sure no one else was paying attention to that truck that was so close that everyone could see it, and yet you stated the obvious! Amazing!

They are so amazing, am I right? No. I can't stand morons who cannot find anything more, well....interesting to say. The worst part was that these gentlemen ignored the fact that I was not interested and the fact that I looked uncomfortable about them yelling over me, which is extremely rude.

Yet, people act all offended when I point this out and accuse ME of being rude. Oh, the irony. Trust me, you'll know when I'm rude, and to be honest, I'm not rude, I'm just blunt. Deal with it.

I say what's on my mind. I don't mince my words or put sugar on them to flatter you people. I don't agree with lies. I'd much rather let people know what I think than be an agreeable moron who is too afraid to say anything.

Another thing that really grinds my gears is when people speak to me when I have my headphones on. Don't they notice that I don't want to speak to them? You'd think they'd notice the headphones and reason that they should just leave me alone and stop talking. So hopefully, this has been informative to you. Hopefully, my screed has taught you a thing or two about introverts and how difficult it is for us to survive in your society.

Thanks for the invitations to parties. We'll stay for a bit and chat, and then we'll leave. Just an entire day of interacting with people leaves me tired. It's different from being online because online, you can skim past people's comments or ignore them. You have that option online. You can't close off your ears in real life, sadly. You have to hear people all the time. It's annoying, but we have to deal with it.