Calling Out For Silence

I don't talk much. This has been remarked upon time and time again by my co-workers. By contrast, my co-workers never seem to STOP talking, so I doubt I could get a word in edgewise, even if I tried. Instead, I listen. And I am not impressed by what I hear.

For the most part, the people around me are just mindlessly repeating themselves. Some time ago, Derrick (not his real name) would come in to work with a 30-minute rant prepared about his girlfriend, Laney (not her real name). He would complain on and on: she's spending the money he is earning, and she's spending as fast as he's earning; she displays emotionally immaturity; she partakes in drugs. And I would listen to it all when he told me these things.

However, that's not the end of it. I would also have to listen to him deliver the exact same rant to other people (at least two or three) before the night was out. A joke is never quite as funny the second time around, and a complaint is not as compelling. What makes it worse is that he would deliver what is basically the same rant a month or two later. While some of the details have changed, the underlying problems remain the same. 

Looking back, I want to call Derrick out on his behavior. He was an enabler to Laney. I also want to tell him to just break up with her already, if only so that he would stop whining at such great length about her. (Point of order, they did break up.)

More recently, I had to listen to a man regaling FOUR separate people about how his sinuses were severely congested. What is wrong with someone that they feel such a compulsion to talk about their sinuses? (Besides the obvious congestion, I mean.)

It's the same thing, over and over. People are just talking for the sake of talking. They are not trying to convey ideas or develop anything; they're just making noise. And this is completely reasonable, apparently...

I will openly admit that I am an introvert - being around people and participating in social activities is draining to me. And lately, I feel more drained than ever. Just being around these serial-talkers and their non-stop jabbering - I feel as though I may go insane from it all! Okay, that last part was over-dramatic, but everything else was true. It just feels like I'm surrounded by people who are physically incapable of being quiet for anything beyond mere minutes.

Is it really too much to ask that people be quieter? Or at least get some new material? Why do you insist on filling the air with pointless, mindless chatter? Do you even listen to yourself? I doubt it - you're too caught up in thinking about what to say next.

Just stop talking. After all, it's all been said before.