Handling Extroverts

At the snack table during the women’s networking workshop this morning, a tiny white- haired woman approached me.  She snagged a portion of a bagel and slapped cream cheese on it, saying she was splurging.

She attended one of those health fairs a week ago and they insisted she was 20 pounds overweight.   She asked me,”do I look overweight”?

Wow.  My expectations of this networking didn’t include talking to complete strangers about their weight at 11am in the morning.  I said no, and she blithely continued talking, about a new subject. I just smiled and nodded. This is my best method for handling extroverts.

I don’t dislike extroverts but their enthusiastic, in your face attitude is scary.  It’s like being dragged by a horse. You don’t want to be in that position but the horse won’t stop.

My friend, an avid networker, and social media butterfly encourages friends on Facebook to comment on posts, not just like them.  She’s an extrovert, too.  She’s a dear, but with no concept of how difficult it is for an introvert to interact on Facebook.  I’m happy when my friends like my posts, comments are not necessary.  To her, the extrovert, it’s rude not to comment.  To me, the introvert, it’s 5 minutes of agonizing over what the heck to write.

I heard introvert and extrovert have a new relation, ambivert.  Most of us are on the spectrum somewhere between true introvert and true extrovert.  Turns out I’m an ambivert, leaning heavily toward introvert.

I don’t like labels but an ambivert meter sounds good to me. Everyone wears one.  The meter tells you today Bob is leaning into introvert territory so you understand why he’s not talkative.  Jill’s meter says she a true extrovert so you’re ready for the onslaught.

Advertisement