Humans are social creatures. Some of us talk more than others, and some of us listen more than others. In the age of social media we're all a little wrapped up in ourselves, which means good listeners are hard to come by. If you are someone that people find easy to talk to you will understand it can be both a blessing and a curse.
1.Talking-spells.
Being easy to talk to does not mean you love to talk, and the same thing goes with listening. One common struggle is having your ear talked off by a random person. As you try to politely back up, their eye-contact goes from casual to extreme. Their brows furrow, eyes widen and they tell you every detail, of every hour of their day. After about nine minutes of nodding and smiling, you really regret the simple, "Hi, how are you?"
2. You have to keep a lot of random secrets.
You're easy to talk to, people are drawn to you. Whether they've known you fifteen minutes of fifteen years, they're bound to tell you something uncomfortable. At this point in your life you're probably used to hearing, "I'm only telling you because I trust you." It's nice to be trusted, but it can be a bit confusing especially if you don't even know their last name. (Speaking from experience).
3. The dreaded, "Let's get coffee sometime!"
Someone telling you their life story in the chiropractor's waiting room can be a fairly awkward experience. Right when you think you can stop nodding and wipe the plastered smile off your face, they ask for your number. Sure, they're a lovely person, and coffee is a common necessity, but you really don't want to hear about their recent vacation over coffee, especially when you just met them.
Making new friends is great, but when you're constantly having your ear talked off by random people, alone time is a glorious thing.
4. You never get to put your headphones in.
Smiling and saying, "Hello" is the polite thing do in any social situation. Whether you're on the train or waiting outside of your next class, you can almost guarantee you won't finish the song you're listening too.
If someone knows you to be an easy person to talk to, they'll probably be a serial offender of talking your ear off. For the people who have the sixth sense, they can probably predict you're easy to talk to then proceed to tell you about their favorite memories of Thanksgiving 2007.
5. "The phone rings both ways you know!"
When you constantly have random people talking your ear off, it's pretty common that they want to establish a friendship with you. You haven't given out a fake phone number since Junior year in high school; however, now doesn't seem like a bad time.
After you haphazardly give someone your number, a few weeks later you get a text from a random number. "Why haven't you texted me back?" pops up on your screen and you debate whether or not you should reply, "New phone who dis?"
A witty response feels like a solid plan, but you know in your heart you can't just do that to someone. Pro tip: "Sorry! I've been really busy with_______" lets them down easy. They know you haven't been busy, rather that you really have no interest in hearing about Cancun 2012.
Although it's tempting to turn the other way and ignore someone, you're making a difference when you let someone talk your ear off. We have all been there and we all have our reasons. It is nice to attract all types of people, but can be mentally exhausting too. Just remember next time someone talks your ear off on the subway that you could be changing their entire day just by listening.
