Interrupting People

Where I come from, interrupting someone is the highest form of flattery. All of my family holidays are loud, boisterous events where everyone is shouting over one another. This is permissible for two reasons: 1) We are a group of people who love to laugh. Sometimes it is necessary to cut in if you have a great joke to add. Comedic timing is very important. 2) Interrupting someone shows that you are so excited and passion about what they are saying, you can’t contain yourself from responding immediately. For the record, my family also considers someone falling asleep at your house to be a great honor. It shows how comfortable they are with you!

After a few years at college (away from the “fam”), I am beginning to see that not everyone views interruptions at kindly as I do. Apparently, there are also home environments where the prized behavior is waiting your turn to speak. Some people consider it rude to burst out into a personal anecdote before someone has finished their sentence. It really depends on the culture you were raised in.

At first, I thought, “you say po-tay-to, I say po-tah-to, you’re quiet, I interrupt people.” As I matured, I realized that I didn’t want everyone to think I was rude. More importantly, I didn’t want my friends and acquaintances to mistakenly think that I don’t care about what they have to say. In actuality, I care so much about making my friends laugh, I can forget to allot space in the conversation for them to contribute. In the effort not to marginalize my companions, I have pledged to become a better listener this semester (although progress is slow).

The thing is, I’m an entertainer. I tend to believe my not funny thoughts are less important than my humorous contributions. When you’re only focused on your comedy, you can fail to respect that sometimes, people want to be heard without laughs, or they want to tell their own jokes. You also have to respect where other people come from. Not everyone takes an interruption as a compliment, and it’s not cool to run around offending people, even if it’s accidental, and due to cultural differences.

I wish it were easy for me to curb this Kanye West habit – “Imma let you finish but not really.” Unfortunately, it runs deep in my blood, so it will take some time. In the meanwhile, to everyone I interact with: I do care about what you have to say, and I don’t mean to steal your spotlight.

Unless I ever meet Kanye, in which case I will not apologize for interrupting him, because we are kindred spirits.

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