We all have different personalities and little quirks that make us who we are. Some of us are tall and some of us are short. Some of us have long hair and some of us have short hair. Some of us prefer movies and some of us prefer TV shows. And some of us are loud, whereas some of us are quiet.
I would say that I am a fairly quiet person. I guess that part of it is to do with my social anxiety as I often find it difficult to interact with others, which often results in me preferring to stay in the background and keep myself to myself. But I can't just say that it is just to do with anxiety and there must be something else, whether that is to do with my genes or how I was brought up, that has caused me to be as quiet as I am.
But this definitely isn't a bad thing. Obviously, I would prefer to be able to talk to people without worrying about what they might think of me or worrying that they will disagree with something that I say, however there isn't a lot of things I can do to change that. It's not as simple as just telling myself to go and talk to people because a lot of the time I can't think of what to say and when I do there is always something in my head telling me not to say anything. It's almost as if I open my mouth to say something but the words just don't come out. I don't know why this is but I really wish I did because maybe then I could do something about it and become the chatty person that I want to become.
But that's not what I want to talk about today. Today I want to talk about whether or not quiet people are 'rude'. I have seen many things online where people are saying that quiet people are rude either because they don't talk to them or they might be trying to have a conversation with them and feel that they're giving more to it than they're getting back. Let me tell you that as a quiet person myself, neither of these things or anything else that may cause people to say that quiet people are 'rude', are actually true.
Rude is if you try talking to someone and they completely ignore you. Rude is if you smile at someone in the street and they just look at you really coldly and walk past you without changing their expression. Many may see quiet people as being rude because when they talk to them they aren't getting that much conversation back, but these people need to realise that in many cases there is a lot more to a person than just being quiet and there may be reasons for this quietness. These people need to learn that there is a lot more to someone than meets the eye and that you should never judge a book by its cover.
You may want to try and bring someone who is quiet out of their shell, but I would like to urge you not to do this. They can often see this as you trying to change who they are as a person and sometimes feel as though you are being too forceful and they may feel quite intimidated by this - I certainly know I would! In fact, trying to bring someone who is quiet out of their shell may cause them to become even more quiet to the point where they avoid any contact with anyone and try and avoid anything that would involve them having to be sociable.
Many may think that quiet people are rude because they tend not to talk as much and whenever you are in a group conversation or working as part of a team they might not contribute as much as everyone else. But them being quiet is just who they are and you shouldn't just immediately dismiss them as being rude without knowing the full story. Instead of expecting them to contribute something, maybe ask them for their opinion and encourage them to actively take part in your discussion. This is important as it can make them feel like they are included within the group and it can stop you and anyone else in the group from being frustrated at them for saying very little, if anything at all.
So in answer to the question, no, I don't think that quiet people are 'rude'. Just because someone doesn't say as much as others or doesn't appear to want to engage in conversation and ends up appearing hostile, doesn't automatically mean that they are rude. It would be just as easy for anyone to say that someone who is loud or talks a lot is rude because they hardly allow for anyone else to voice their opinion and may even talk over others (which, to be fair, is really rude).
At the end of the day, you can't say someone is rude just because they talk too little (or talk too much). A person can only be rude if they are offensive in any way or if they show very little manners towards others. Is someone being quiet offensive? No. Is someone being quiet showing very little manners? No. So are quiet people rude? No.
Love Beth xx
No comments:
Post a Comment