Reply to Things that you do unintentionally that could be perceived as rude

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[quote=Anonymous]I interrupt. It isn't intentional--my entire family growing up were interrupters. Imagine a big Italian family, kinda like Moonstruck. I have spent a lifetime trying to change this habit, but I am not always successful.

My family ALL interrupts and it's taken me a long time to learn to [b]wait[/b] and [b]listen[/b] to what other people say.  You can imagine that my family, esp. my dad, are TERRIBLE listeners in a group, and each person is fighting to say something.  It's ironic, we're all fighting to be heard, and no one is listening! I didn't realize this until college, and I really notice it when I go home or when I'm talking with my family as a group.  (My dad one-on-one really needs to be called out that he is not listening, he is just taking and ranting!)

I took an anthropology class in college, and the professor pointed out that some cultures (Northerners, New Yorkers, Italian families were HIS examples) interrupt or say what others just said to show that they AGREE or have something in common.   So if someone in a group says, "I'm from Buffalo", before the person can finish, they say something like "Buffalo, great town, I went there on business last month" right away.  It's kind of like a verbal nodding of the head.  But obviously it can be "and let me turn the conversation back to me!"

I have to say, some people love it at parties that I talk a lot and have fewer awkward pauses.  It used to make me terribly uncomfortable if people were quiet in a group in a social setting.  I've learned that I don't have to say something to kill the silence and make it less awkward, and the bonus is, I'm less apt to say something stupid that just pops into my head just to make others (and myself) feel more comfortable!  I also usually have a joke or two (sometimes self-deprecating, surprise) because I'd rather make fun of myself than sit in an awkward silence.

On the other hand, I am all self-conscious about interrupting now almost to a fault, and sometimes it would be useful to speak up or get a word in edge-wise (work meetings, for example), so I don't want to completely wait until everyone is done talking or I will never be heard.  Careful not to be the meek mouse![/quote]

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