Nothing gets under my skin more in this life than people telling me just how quiet I am. Trust me, I know! I've been reminded of it since kindergarten. Nearly every report card I'd get I'd freak out, not that it was going to say I wasn't doing well in school, because I did fine, but that there would be some mention of just how quiet I was. Usually it was "Mapper is so quiet and doesn't volunteer easily" "Mapper is extremely shy" "When Mapper does speak up, she has something valuable to say".

I have coworkers who make a joke thinking they are being funny "Oh well we know what a chatterbox and troublemaker Mapper is". God I just want to scream! Then I got my review yesterday. Glowing review, but then there was that one line that made me want to scream "She can be quiet in our meetings but speaks up when she has ideas – and they’re often very good ones!" For anyone who isn't shy, they have no idea just how much those words hurt. Nobody ever makes fun of the loud people. Everyone likes the loud ones--they are never considered weird like the quiet people are.

I have always been and always will be a quiet person. I didn't grow up in a family of people who were big talkers and we certainly never had the yelling drama that a lot of families have.