THE BLABBER MOUTHS

You know what I’m talking about.  The people who Can’t Stop Talking—blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah.  It’s as if their life depends upon the sound of their own voice, almost like they are drowning in their own oxygen and are afraid to breathe.  They figure if they keep talking, they won’t have to...breathe.

They talk loud and constant.  The excitement of their own timbre vibrating through their chest and stomach is their salvation, if only temporary.  The more they hear the sound of their own voice—and feel the surge of its resonance—the more they Can’t Stop Talking.     
They talk about everything that has to do with them.  They seldom ask questions, and if they do, they anxiously interrupt us before we have the chance to answer.  They change the subject at the whim of their spinning brain cells, and appear to lavish in the spin they create in their listeners.  For who can sensibly follow the path of a busy mind’s nonstop word gush? 

So there sits the tolerant one, not sure how to walk away from the one-sided conversation; and while unable to utter half a sentence, they feel more exhausted by the second—listening to nothing. 

In most cases, the Blabber Mouth is a good-hearted, innocent fool, wrapped up in his or her own thoughts and desires.  They are people who are so anxious—nervous  might be a better word for it—that they cannot see anything unbalanced in their blah-blah-blah outpour.

Meanwhile, they cause the sane people to run and avoid them like a tooth ache.  The instant someone bold enough—or caring enough—blurts into their directionless onslaught of word overflow, to tell them to take a breather and shut-the-hell-up, the Blabber Mouth reacts as if he or she’s been deeply wronged.  As if our concern for their incessant vocal spewing—and our sanity—was identical to hitting them with a truck on purpose. 

Good God, these people need help!  But none of us can get a word in edge wise to guide them into a more productive place—such as the quiet contemplation of self improvement.  They are so nervous of everything, that silence is like death to them.  When in the company of other people, they become so apprehensive—so full of the expectations of how others see them—they flounder uneasily.

In their floundering, instead of just breathing…and watching…and waiting…they start regurgitating whatever thoughts happen to be rambling in their brains at that time.  Those of us who are polite are their favorite targets—we are their number one sounding boards.  The quieter the polite ones are, the more the Blabber Mouths feel it is their duty to fill the atmosphere with the sound of their own voices, the brilliance of their own observations, and the drone of their endless babbling.

For make no mistake, these people are afraid of the emptiness—whatever that means.  They are afraid of being unnoticed, and afraid of being left behind.  Whatever race they are running in their heads, they suspect they are on the edge of losing.  The more they talk, the more they imagine they are catching up to the rest of us—as if we are all running somewhere.  (Well, maybe we are.)

At any rate, people who are unable to control their continuous word spillage, usually have self-control issues.  These people are not easy to reach, for they have never learned how to listen.

Breathe calmly, smile graciously, and slowly step away.  (They probably won’t even notice.)  You do not deserve to be inundated by their mindless blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah.

 

(You don't have to save them either—they've got the sound of their own voice to keep them company.)