Yes. Okay. It’s cliché, but there is truth to the phrase ‘opposites attract.’ In my case, there is, at least. My boyfriend and I met via an extremely awkward encounter at Old Navy.

He was one of the most detached cashiers I had ever met in my life, but for some weird reason, I found him incredibly adorable. For the first few months of getting to know him, we would talk on the phone a lot and he would always leave enormous pauses after I would say something to him. I always thought he had just hung up. It’s funny to think about that now, but in hindsight, it’s things like that which lead to uncovering the pieces of his personality that I love the most

Just to sort of illustrate what I mean, Simon (aka my boyfriend) rarely ever says ‘like’ or ‘um.’ He thinks about what he says before he says it. It took me a long time to realize this, but shy and quiet are two different things. I always attributed his lack of words to be social discomfort, but after about two years of knowing him, I have learned that Simon is quieter than he is shy. He prefers to keep to himself, rather than make mindless small talk.

Even more likely, he is just lost in thought. He’s observant, but he keeps his observations to himself. I am typically the total opposite. I like to speak my mind, and I’m sure that I drive him crazy with my excessive prattling about random thoughts sometime. But I enjoy the fact that we are so different in that way. It always makes things interesting.

I think the most important thing to remember about dating an introvert or dating an introvert in general, when you do consider yourself is an introvert, is trying always to understand them. In my relationship, that has made all the reason.