The Picture of Shyness

Do people think of you as a certain way because you are shy?

For me, a lot of people think I'm this really sweet girl who has never uttered a cuss word in her life. Really. Some people are actually shocked when I cuss in front of them. It happened just the other day, actually. But, in actuality, I am a very cynical and pessimistic person who cusses like a sailor. Still, there is some truth to this. I do like being nice to people. Mostly because I don't want to make enemies, of course...

Tags: different, quiet, shyness, sweet

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Monica on December 5, 2011 at 2:56am

A lot of these things happen to me... People tend to mistake my social awkwardness for being stuck up, when in actuality I do enjoy meeting new people, I just prefer to listen rather than talk. People also think I'm always sad because I'm quiet as well, and my extroverted roommate thinks I'm cranky all the time because I like being alone. It's kind of funny widespread assumptions about quiet people are.

Permalink Reply by Rachel Lynn on December 6, 2011 at 5:25pm

People always think I'm stuck up too. Makes me sad.

Permalink Reply by Stephanie O on December 5, 2011 at 6:23pm

I tend to see the two extremes: people seem to either assume I'm incredibly smart or that I know nothing at all. There was actually a girl (who also tends to be shy) in an Creative Non-fiction class I took last year that wrote a paper describing thoughts that go through her head on a regular basis. She talked about rehearsing what she is going to say over and over in her head so that it is just right and half the time having it be too late to say it once she feels confident enough, holding back because of the fear that people will be annoyed or offended by something she says, and a number of other things that made me feel as though she had read my mind.

One of the guys in the class responded with, "I like it a lot...I had no idea quiet people thought that much! I just assumed they were quiet because they had nothing to say." All of us in the room (including the professor) were at a loss for words after he said that.

Permalink Reply by Harriate Slate on December 7, 2011 at 11:52am

Ooh, a couple of weeks ago, my friend told me what she originally thought I was like. It seems that most people think shy people are nice and sweet. Me, no. She said she thought I was a female dog (she swears, I don't), she thought I thought I was above everyone, and then she compared me to Meryton Assembly Mr. Darcy, and a boy in our class who reminds me greatly of Mr. Collins.

Permalink Reply by Rae Fuzzledalek on December 8, 2011 at 12:07pm

People do that to me too, but in a somewhat different way... I'm shy around people I don't know, but I'm actually kind of loud and spazzy around my friends. So of course one day, a friend decided to visit me at college, and all of my classmates just kind of stared in shock as I tackled him. Apparently they thought that I was averse to all human contact. Which, in return, freaked my friend out, because he didn't understand how anyone could think of me as anything but a hyper, silly, cuddly goofball. XD Weird how that happens.

Permalink Reply by Atalinay on June 28, 2012 at 7:30pm

because i'm shy they think i'm smart, that i don't cuss, that i am always angry or sad or having a bad time, which seems very bad. ohhh steriotypes, you little nasty deceivers .

Permalink Reply by Kristin Hudson on January 6, 2013 at 9:53pm

I have encountered similar responses when I feel like I'm just being myself. It's odd, for me, how being shy means that most people don't get a full picture, but it seems like a lot of people get different ideas about me. One person can think I am a teachers pet and another finds me sarcastic and cynical. The truth is pieces of both, and it always surprises people when they start to see that.

Permalink Reply by Ella Bridgett-Tomkinson on January 8, 2013 at 9:26am

Everyone seems to think that i am really geeky and weird becouse i get good grades and stuff. it's funny when i am talking to someone that i don't know and is 'popular' in school and they think that i am kinda cool. It's like people see that i am quite and clever and they autimatically think that i am wierd and ceepy.

Permalink Reply by Clare Booth on January 27, 2013 at 11:35am

People seem to think that since I'm quiet, that I'm sweet and nice. And I do like to be nice a lot of the time, especially when I first meet people; I want them to have a good first impression. But sometimes, I don't want to be "the nice one" and some people get amazed when I say something sassy. Thankfully, a lot of my friends have gotten used to the way I really am, but it still annoys me when people think I'm really nice all the time.

Also, sometimes people will think there's something wrong with me because I'm so quiet and I like to be by myself. Once, in 4th grade, a girl tried to teach me how to talk. I found it extremely annoying. Just because I don't talk that much doesn't mean I can't. Also, once my art teacher seemed to think there was something wrong with me when I was walking by myself on the playground in 2nd grade. I never liked her since.