Are You Talking About Me? Why Aren’t You Talking About Me?

Have you met someone who drops into a conversation and says something outrageous like this?

They’re so insecure and desperate for attention that they assume everyone was already focused on them before they graced us with their presence!

I’ve experienced it a few times in my life. The lines have differed but not the intention behind them.

On one occasion, I heard both lines spoken in the exact order I’ve written above. That person couldn’t help themselves. She demanded to know the status of our group. She was simultaneously on the attack and defensive about it, covering both outcomes — suspicious and phishing for answers to confirm what she already believed.

The real truth was she wasn’t the topic of any conversation. That didn’t seem to matter to her as she also wanted to know the reason why she wasn’t the center of our world. If that wasn’t enough, she then took hold of the conversation until she was satisfied that those around her were under her control. We forgot what we were speaking about and let her dictate talk until the wee small hours.

She got drunker, louder, and more aggressive as the night went on.

When I was younger, I’d put up with such social arrangements believing it was the right and polite thing to do. These days I don’t do that. I just walk away, choosing personal comfort over propriety.

There’s no reason for me to persist with insecure, attention-seeking fools. Staying only feeds their monsters. I’d be wasting my time supporting them, handing their beasts treats until they felt full — knowing that their stomachs would never find their ends anyway.

Staying also meant I’d miss out on meeting other people, those who weren’t so needy or dependent on the reassurances of strangers to get by.

How about you? Have you met someone like this?

What did you do when confronted with this situation?

-Michael

Originally published at https://michaelformanwriting.com on March 4, 2024.