Impatience when people prattle on?

Post Reply New Topic

I am wondering if I am alone in this: I desperately want to be a better listener, so that people can feel comfortable confiding in me, but I find that I often am impatience after awhile and just people them to stop talking. It's not so that I can talk-- I just get tired of them going on and on and on and on about a particular little point. I am sure that upon hearing this, people will consider me rude. It's not that I do it on purpose-- I just feel like ripping out my hair and running away when I can't escape their nonstop chatter. Am I alone here?

I am a really good listener, but when some people go on out some things I can get really bored but don't have the heart to tell them. I suppose I should know, as I get carried away with talking about a certain subject to close relatives, but I try not to too much because I know it is not very fun to bore everybody.

I have a friend who used to talk nonstop about her next door neighbours. It all kicked off when she had some sort of petty experience with them, but it was only one of those things what you just get over, I mean it was not anything really bad. But my friend just could not get over it, and she hates them with a vengeance. But now she has become paranoid, thinking that whatever they are doing they are doing it to spite her. Even when they built a little wooden shed in their garden, my friend was going on to me all day about the shed, even though the shed was not anywhere near her garden. Then she started getting all angry when they were planting some flowers in their front garden, which also wasn't affecting her front garden at all. Then they got a new car, and she started going on and on about that, saying that they're doing all these things on purpose to spite her. But from what I've seen for myself, it looks like these neighbours are just trying to get on with their lives, and my friend getting all upset and angry at whatever they do is probably unnerving them and so that's why they don't speak to her. I know that if she wasn't so uptight about everything they do, they might become friendly with her again and forget about the petty argument they had, that was about 4 years ago by the way. I haven't seen my friend for a few months now because I started to get bored when she started on about her neighbours. But at the same time I feel horrible, because she might think that I don't care. But it's not that. Her birthday is coming up soon so I'll better get her a birthday card and some chocolates and take them round to her and have some lunch or something with her, just so it looks like I haven't forsaken her.

Sorry, I suppose I prattled on there. But it's different online because you can choose to skip it or read it later. Some rules are a little bit different when verbally communicating with people. But it's not just you getting bored when people prattle on. Everybody gets bored with people at times when they prattle on. It depends on what they're prattling on about.