What do you do with people who talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and just simply WILL NOT SHUT UP???

Blabbermouths!

Motormouths!!!

The people you don't want sitting next to you on a plane!

I mean, I don't mind talking. I don't mind when someone tells a story. But part of having a conversation with someone is talking, and the other part is SHUTTING UP AND LISTENING. It boggles my mind that some people don't understand this, and seem to just enjoy cornering some poor hapless soul for the sake of talking their ear off for hours and hours on end.

Is there a polite, non-alienating way of saying YOU TALK TOO MUCH, YOU NEVER SHUT UP??!?

METRO

Anxiety said:

Run DMC, right?

Somebody lock this thread.

AsianBomb777 said:

SHUT THE MOUTH

SHUT IT

DO IT

AsianBomb777 said:

don't you have a poem about perineums to write?

Anxiety said:

Easy.....when your jaw is tight, your perineum is tight.
I learned that in Lamaze class.

Fleshofmyflesh said:

OMG. I've found my inspiration.

You and Anxiety are my muse.

Fleshofmyflesh said:

that doesn't rhyme

AsianBomb777 said:

What do you plan to do with us?

Actually, I'm having the same problem with a lady in our office. She's a major attention whore and she's obsessed with me. Her sister also works with us, and the sis's office is right next to mine. So she's constantly coming over to talk to her, but really she's just standing there to swoon for attention from me and whore it up outside my door. She's a 40-something year old woman with kids, and she thinks she's 16 going to the prom. It's gotten so bad, that there have been times when I was asking the sister a question, and she got behind her, and looked over her shoulder at me and started fluffing her hair and puckering her lips.

Anyhow, I was on the phone with someone one day, and she came around the corner giggling and laughing at the top of her lungs, and running her mouth as usual, and making a big scene. I had to explain to the person that I was having a problem at the office and to hold for a moment, then got up and slammed the door in her face. Then I had a talk with my boss, and he must have said something to her because she hasnt been in the office much lately.

Tom said:

That's becuase you're a sexy beast and you know it.
You manly Uber-Sexy Greek God of Mod, you.

Tom said:

Sorry to hear that.
Now - - where'd you get that avatar ???
How freakin cute is that!

AsianBomb777 said:

how can we both be one collective muse? wouldn't it be better for you if we were your muses, in plural? then we could wear legwarmers and rollerskates and do dances around you like they did in "xanadu" while you write odes to butt goo.

Anxiety said:

Oh that was sooooo SuperCaliFragaGanstaTrampolini

Anxiety said:

You are the dancing queen.....young and sweet, only 777.....

Tom said:

flirting in the office is another thing, but that can be a hassle too. once at a job i had in college, a girl had a crush on me and once we were in the elevator alone together and she'd broken her leg recently and so she started stroking my leg with her crutch and i kinda coughed and laughed uncomfortably and said something about the weather, and for years since that incident, my best friend has taunted me with the phrase "someone's got a crutch on you!"

Those types of people also don't get the not-so-subtle hints of our irritation with them, either. I'll do all sorts of negative body language things to try to get them to go away, i.e., not make eye contact, turn away from them, but it doesn't work.

Sometimes I start to panic and feel claustrophobic, fearing that this person will never let me go.

My father's 4th wife has a daughter like this in her late 20s. When they tease her about being such a loudmouth jabberjaw, she just laughs it off and claims she can't help it, that she gets it from the other side of the family (it's genetic), and continues on and on. I don't think it's ever hindered her in her life, because she's blonde and physically attractive and this personality seems to just "go" with her.

Anxiety said:

THat's becuase you're a sexy beast, and you know it.
If I had been in an elavator with you, I'd rub you with this:

Anxiety said:

LMAO!!

AsianBomb777 said:

Oh, that felt good.
Laughed hard on that one.

AnotherLoverToo said:

oh my GOD, that's exactly what i'm talking about. people who do this have no idea they're doing it, and when you confront them with it, they totally act like they don't know what you're talking about! one time i worked with a girl who was SUCH a motormouth i finally had to say, "i can't listen to you talk anymore. my ears are ringing." and she had the nerve to say, "you better get your ears checked, then!"

AsianBomb777 said:

if you were in an elevator with me, you'd HAVE to rub me with that.

I have a woman working for me who literally never shuts up. If there's no one for her to talk to, she'll have conversations with herself. She'll ask herself a question in a high-pitched, "innocent-girly" voice, and then answer it with a deep man-voice.


I'd love to tell her to shut the ____ up, but she really does a stellar job, and the last thing I want to do is alienate her. So, I keep my mouth shut and my office door closed as often as possible.
[Edited 12/2/04 20:11pm]

Anxiety said:

SHUT IT!!!!!

althom said:

your sterling gift of tact comes shining through once again.


oh, and PS:

Anxiety said:

Yeah, I think these people have an inherent lack of empathy, too. I've noticed they're often quite self-absorbed and don't believe for a second that they could truly be considered offensive. They think others have the problem.

AnotherLoverToo said:

i had a weird experience once where i was visiting a friend who was admitted to the psych ward of lenox hill hospital, and a woman who would NOT shut up came up to me and launched into a whole monolog about soy milk until i had to cut it short and tell her i had to visit with my friend while i still had visiting time...my friend looked at the woman, shrugged, looked at me and said, "manic depressive. all talkers are."

i've wondered ever since if that were true...it was certainly a perfect "girl, interrupted" moment...

Anxiety said:

One of my best friends from my late teens to early 20s was a "talker", and I think with her a big part of it was insecurity. She couldn't STAND to be alone, always had to be with people and "entertain" them.