We’re all bad listeners. Even if we say we are good listeners, we’re all really just crap at it. Even quiet people who claim to be great listeners still want to be heard; their struggle to speak is just more silent. We’re human beings; that’s the way we are programmed.

One of the worst feelings, though, when having a conversation, is when you are cut off, and not just cut off once, but repeatedly – over and over and over again. This happened a number of times during a three-way conversation today among me and two other men today. Initially, I thought, these jerks. They’re doing this because I’m the only woman in the conversation! I can do this, too! So I started cutting them off. But as I stood there and observed, I realized that they were doing the same exact thing to each other. It led to a number of misunderstandings, which I was able to clear up at the very end of this conversation that really should have lasted about 1/4 of how long it did last.

Everyone really just needs to shut up and listen. It’s not going to kill you to wait a few extra seconds and listen to what the other person has to say. I feel exhausted.