Have you noticed people interrupting more?

[underpants]

Mind you I have a 12 year old (going on 16) but I've noticed this with seemingly full grown adults.

10 years ago we started sharing beach week with a family (step-in-laws) who didn't allow for a breathe without jumping in to the conversation. At the time it was out of the norm. Long Island natives in Georgia.

I grew up in the South where storytelling was supreme and pauses were part of the rhythm of the story. You sat and listened and the original speaker provided the same respect.

Now it seems that before you can say "and" there's someone piping up. A , in speech is not acknowledged.

Mark it up to speaking with thumbs or constant discussion ( really? What are you talking about in a grocery store parking lot?) but I notice it at work and elsewhere.

At our staff meeting today I marked 8 instances where people were interrupted.

[BigmanPigman]

1. Maybe too many people have been mimicking Chris Mathews.

[LisaM]

2. YES!!!! Now that you mention it!

I thought it was just me, that I'd the "invisible" age women get to. It's terrible, but I'm actually relieved it's not just happening to me.

Our conversational skills are probably diminishing due to social media and electronic devices.

Edited to add - I have no problem with timely interjections, but flat out interrupting is different.

[clu]

3. i interrupted a good customer at work today

but I was really just trying to save her some time. work discussions might need to be evaluated differently. in terms of everyday interpersonal stuff I have not. what sort of time frame does your comparison span?

[underpants]

16. I'd say the last 8-10 years

[FSogol]

4. ...Interrupts...Yo, Underpants, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish,

but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!

[janx]

5. Yes, and I have been guilty of it myself when talking to customer service.

But that's because I get impatient with their scripted questions that don't pertain to the problem at hand.

Like you, I'm used to the social give and take of conversation. There's a time for speaking and a time for listening. Some people will interrupt very rudely to go on into some didactic speech--on and on and on. And yeah, this is recent.

[clu]

7. parenting would have to account for most of it

anyone who learns it anywhere else would probably learn it effectively from friends or social engagement.

[underpants]

18. Customer service I don't have a problem with

I do it myself especially in multi-step instructions. I just did it this more with Sprint ( yes I actually got a person on the phone) "Wait wait wait. Let's start with step 1 first". I do it all the time.

[Nevernose]

6. No.

I teach high school, as did a parent, and a grandparent, and a great grandparent. We've been teaching school since before the turn of the LAST century.

It seems different, but I promise you: the world has the same percentage of assholes it always did. Occasionally I allow myself to think things are, generally speaking, getting better. The kids don't change much. They haven't in millennia. Values sometimes change (much less homophobia, for instance), but I think it's more that our perception changed as we age. We understand time better.

We humans are what we are what we are.

[customerserviceguy]

8. I just moved out of NY this year

and it was a way of life around there, I simply got used to it. It doesn't happen so much around SC.

[ProudLib72]

9. OT, but...

Have you considered spreading out these posts? Maybe a once a week "Have you noticed...?" post so that we have something to look forward to. "What strange behavior will Underpants have noticed this week, and have I noticed it too but kept quiet?"

[underpants]

14. Friday night ruminations

Yeah I considered have two such posts so close together but went ahead anyway.

Next week - "You heard me say 'one bag' didn't you?"

[GulfCoast66]

10. Well, perhaps we are willing to put up with it

I am a Southerner and like telling stories. Interrupt me and I will say 'excuse me, but I was speaking. Interrupt someone I am listening to and I will tell you 'excuse me, I was listening to _____'.

Never confuse southern manners with letting others walk on us.

Have a nice evening.

[Glorfindel]

11. Exactly. I'm a Southerner, but also a hillbilly. Interrupt a hillbilly and you might get shot.

OK, not really, but letting someone have his or her say is part of the social norm in these parts, thank goodness.

[GulfCoast66]

12. You hillbillies are an enigma!

I am a combination of Arkie and coon-ass(please do not alert...it's what we call ourselves). Our politeness has its limits.

And there are more democrats than you might believe.

[Glorfindel]

13. You're right. I spent 18 years in south Mississippi and remained a stranger in a strange land

all the while, though I met lots & lots of extremely nice people, including many coon-asses, who are rather endearing. And yes, there are far more Democrats among the hillbillies than one might expect. The Depression struck especially hard here, and FDR is remembered with love and reverence. May it always be so!

[underpants]

15. Point taken

I only noticed it first with our former beach goers and (hold it let me finish ) have just noticed it a lot more in the last few years.

[MineralMan]

17. I just wanna say...oh, did I interrupt you? Well...I just wanna say...