YES . . . and this is despite having more than adequately polished social skills. Even more frustratingly, the obsessing isn’t limited to conversations, presentations, and interviews (i.e. interactions that
sometimes actually merit review). I also obsess over even the most inconsequential of human interactions. Here are a few examples:
- sneezing and/or coughing while greeting someone or excusing myself from something
- mispronouncing a menu item when speaking to a cashier or waitress
- unexpectedly shaking someone’s hand (I usually have clammy hands)
- forgetting to hold the door open for whoever was walking behind me
- someone noticing me staring at them
- overanalyzing [possibly “inappropriate”] focal inflexions that I might’ve used when addressing someone, anyone
. . . and the list goes on and on and on... Seriously, it isn’t unusual for me to individually rehash the above [and other equally trivial] items for
days/weeks/months, which is the
PRIMARY reason I strongly prefer communicating via email, forums, chats, etc… This is because the just mentioned items provide a convenient method of reference should I want to examine a past interaction. In contrast, something such as
in-person communication is complicated by vocal inflexions and/or body language, conversational attributes that are nearly
impossible to recall with anything even resembling
precision.
