It drove my coworkers up the wall to hear that my wife, kids, and I were totally cool with being locked down together. And I had been working from home for years before the pandemic. I think they chafed at being locked down and the notion of anyone being okay with it was unfathomable to them.

All these return to work policies.

Exactly this, my dad’s an introvert but is the most charismatic person I know. He does great with people, but is the last to arrive and the first to leave since he finds it so draining. He “recharges” when he’s by himself.

I did that for a while, but got shit for it everytime and just stopped going out because it wasn’t worth the hassle.

Sounds like a company meeting

Society in general encourages and rewards those who speak more

Squeaky Wheel, etc.

But only if you’re older, whiter, taller, and maler.

Society (at least, my corner of the American Southwest) hates hearing a short young brown woman open her mouth.

Sounds like the Internet

I remember during Covid lock downs extroverts were loosing their minds and blaming their extrovertism for their cabin fever.

First of all, true isolation is unhealthy and crazy inducing for everyone, that’s why they still use solitary confinement in prisons for further punishment, so no, extroverts, you’re not special for feeling depressed during a global pandemic. (but yes, it did suck extra for them)

But so many extroverts seemed to assume lock downs were an introverts wet dream. There was very little attempt to understand each other. I’d see introverts empathising with extroverts who were struggling, but the reverse rarely happened, extroverts just seemed to assume “you introverts must be loving this solitude” and when myself and others tried to open up about how we were struggling I would hear “yeah but you like being alone, you’re used to it” like that makes it easier.

At no point did I really see any of the extroverts I know, or anyone online posting about how “wow, being pushed this far out of my comfort zone by lockdowns sucks, is this how introverts feel when I force them to actively engage in crowded, highly social parties?”

Not that I expect the middle of a planet wide plague to be the time I’d suddenly expect people to show self reflection and emotional maturity, but it was still worth the observation.

I don’t. I generally dislike eating out or going to movies or events alone. I’m also generally very introverted but I happen to dislike going out and doing stuff by myself.

One big part is that I can chat if I eat with someone but if I eat by myself I’m understimulated. And if I already sit there and look at my smartphone while eating I can as well just pick up something from the bakery around the corner and eat it while looking at my computer screen.

I honestly don’t even hear anyone complaining about introverts. All I hear is socially anxious people or misanthropes complaining about other people talking, and confusing that with introversion.

The only meaningful use of the introvert/extrovert dichotomy in my experience is just that extroverts charge their batteries in social situations, introverts drain their batteries and need time to recharge. Knowing this is useful, but says absolutely nothing about social or conversational skills, charm, interests, etc - even if it might be easier to develop social strategies if you are extroverted. But there’s certainly a lot of charmless extroverts around as well.

It’s also interesting to note that even though introversion and extroversion is often seen as “one gains energy by being alone, the other gains energy by socializing,” it’s actually more complicated than that. It’s got more to do with how your brain processes pleasure and reward. I’m not gonna pretend to fully understand, I’m not a professional, only repeating what they’ve told me, but there’s a lot of times extroverts are actually more drained by social interaction because they’re more mentally present in it than introverts are. As a result of that misunderstanding, a lot of people who are actually extroverts think that they’re introverts.
Personally, I consider myself an extrovert, but things like drama and people being rude are so draining on me that when it happens I often need to immediately remove myself from the situation to recharge, and then I usually don’t end up coming back until at least the next day.

Yeah I’m a shy extrovert. It took me a long time to learn that because until my mid 20s I felt like I was intruding by existing in public spaces. I still have to remind myself that I’m completely allowed to go to things open to the public and that the organizers/proprietors actually prefer I do.

My wife is an introvert. I welcome her to attend most things I go to, but I understand she’s got the energy to go to maybe half of it. That’s ok, and she actually appreciates my extroversion.

Not the online world id say

and then asks me why I’m so quiet.

“You said everything already.”

That seems less like being an extrovert and more like being an asshole :/

Allegedly. Extroverts need lots of attention, so skimping on sleep IS an option.

Baby I’m ready to goooo!

Why wouldn’t you want everyone around you to be at least moderately comfortable? Is it really that hard to just shut up and let someone be for a few minutes? I don’t mind socializing but sometimes I just wanna wander off on my own for a few minutes to recharge. Is that really so much to ask? Then people take it personally when I politely ask them to give me a few minutes as if I’m being rude.

They’re saying why are they the only ones getting dragged out of the comfort zone.

Because that’s the only place we can get a word in edgewise