Conversation

Do you ever find that people are more interested in telling their story, than they are listening to you? You'll be in the middle of a story, and you can tell they aren't paying attention, as they think about the story they are going to tell next. I often just want to stop speaking and let them tell theirs since they are so eager.

I'll be sitting around with a group of people, a topic comes up and everyone is telling their stories. People anxiously waiting for the other person to finish, often cutting off their last sentence in order to be the next one to speak.

I don't understand this. Sure, I might have something to say, but doesn't the person speaking deserve the respect that is our listening? Otherwise what is the point of telling it. Why must we always feel the need to one-up each others stories? (we'll leave my "i'm better than you" peeve for another day)

It's come to the point where I rarely even think about a story to tell. I'm tired of being disrespected just for the opportunity to spout off my story. It may be important to me, but they really don't care. I may have something to say, I may have the urge to tell my story, but it just isn't worth it.

When your having a conversation, or listening to someone tell a story, you don't need to immediatly say something the moment they stop speaking. It's the reason we've adopted saying "um", "ah", and all those other little fillers. We do it because if there is a break in the sound coming out of our mouths, someone will jump on it and interrupt. Conversations should consist of talking and listening. Not talking, talking, talking. There is allowed to be a break when someone stops talking. Silence shouldn't be uncomfortable.