Here's a big one: When you're talking to someone, telling them something or other, and right in the middle they say something else, change the subject, or just leave. I never know what to do.
I usually get quiet, in hopes my cessation of speech will alert them to their rudeness, but of course this is not an effective approach. They weren't listening to you talking, how do you expect them to hear you not talking?
Don't get me wrong: there are times when I'm not listening to someone so much as "waiting to talk" and I interrupt them before they finish a sentence. I absolutely hate doing that, and am trying to get much better. (I think I am much better, but if you talk to me and I do this, verbally smack me as hard as you can.) We all do that sometimes, and it's not the biggest sin in history.
What I'm talking about goes far beyond that. When someone starts talking about something totally and completely different right in the middle of your sentence, they clearly aren't listening to you. If you interrupt someone going on about Christina Aguilera you're just impatient to enter the conversation. But when you start talking about TV shows that night, you were not listening.
What do you do to these people? Most of the ones I encounter aren't trying to be rude. They'd probably be embarrassed if it was pointed out to them. (At least, I hope they would be.)
Furthermore, to bring it up makes you into an asshole, pointing out the faults of others.
Is there a way to handle people who utterly aren't listening without resorting to rudeness yourself?
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