Happy April Fools’ Day! Today brings to mind that
famous Mark Twain quote: "It
is better to keep your mouth closed and let
people think you are a fool
than to open it and remove
all doubt.” In my experience
as a Shytrovert, this is true of a lot of people who tend to often contract
foot in mouth disease, aka open mouth insert foot. I and many of my shy and introverted cohorts
are not these people.
Maybe it’s because of my superior impulse
control according to experts (sadly, mine does not extend to chocolate, and I
may be losing the wine battle as well). It has been determined that impulse control has a positive correlation to intelligence and greater life success. I can see that, since popping off about your boss being a dick at the Christmas party would a) not be too wise, and b) land you on the street without a job. Hey, that’s a hypothetical, but people have done dumber things!
So, are shy folks and introverted folks lack of yapping off the top of their heads randomly a cause of better impulse control or a crucial characteristic of it? Well, from what I know of introverts, being one myself, they hold back because they’re thinkers who can appreciate the dire consequences of speaking out of turn. We have a tougher time recovering from the fallout with our maddening propensity for rumination.
When you have a filter as strong and tightly knit as an introvert's, it's easy to not make a damn fool out of yourself on April 1st or any other time.
So, I’ll put the question out there: Have you ever said the absolutely wrong thing in a social situation? Something like accusing someone of being so stupid they rode the little yellow bus to attend school when they actually did ride the little yellow bus? This is a true and unfortunate example from my own life-- a former co-worker said this to someone in front of a crowd of people. No, my co-worker was not an introvert. Go figure, but we’re not perfect either. Everybody plays the fool sometime after all.
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