Are people reacting negatively to me being unreadable?

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Balbituate
Sea Gull
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02 Dec 2017, 6:07 pm

I think I'm pretty unreadable a lot of the time. While I'm probably not the best at it, I think I'm better at reading other people than people are at reading me. I dress kind of quirky, but it's not really associated with any groups. I guess SJW is the closest match. Even my online behavior is hard to read for people. I think this might be why I get stalkerish "fans" online. They're trying to figure me out, so they turn into stalkers. I also look ethnically ambiguous. So people often think my skin is darker than it is.



EyeDash
Deinonychus
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02 Dec 2017, 8:49 pm

Being hard to read and dressing in an unusual way might get negative reactions from some people, but it would also get good reactions from others. Some folks are attracted to mysterious or unconventional individuals in a positive way. I've found that with online interactions such as email or chat it's easy to be (mis)interpreted in ways I never intended, in part because there's no tone of voice or body language. My way to deal with that is to be really careful in how I phrase things and use smilies, but that can come across as stilted and immature - it tends to avoid flame wars though, lol.



Balbituate
Sea Gull
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02 Dec 2017, 9:14 pm

EyeDash wrote:
Being hard to read and dressing in an unusual way might get negative reactions from some people, but it would also get good reactions from others. Some folks are attracted to mysterious or unconventional individuals in a positive way. I've found that with online interactions such as email or chat it's easy to be (mis)interpreted in ways I never intended, in part because there's no tone of voice or body language. My way to deal with that is to be really careful in how I phrase things and use smilies, but that can come across as stilted and immature - it tends to avoid flame wars though, lol.

I notice some people are extra attracted to me in a positive way at first. But a lot of times they grow frustrated when they can't figure me out. Especially if it's a guy. They get excited that I'm not acting like the typical person or female. They just get frustrated when they get to know me and figure out I'm still not like they expect and can't categorize me.



Introverticalibrated
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03 Dec 2017, 12:46 am

I've run into similar problems myself... I believe a lot of people like to draw seemingly shy/stiff people out of their "shell" so they can properly evaluate the type of person you are. When that doesn't seem to happen they come to their own conclusions; which are usually awful since from their perspective they propped up their end of the bonding protocol and you may have not.

I remember 3+ years ago, washing my hands in the restroom where I worked and a co-worker was using the urinal behind me... He pretty boldly asked "Is anyone in there?" I just said "Nope" dried my hands and walked out. Later on he would sing Ace of Spades but replace Spades with Jades (my name is Jade) and that always puzzled me.

95% of my interactions go to crud due to my inability to remain consistent or outgoing, the more I try to conform the more I look like someone way off the deep end with numerous personalities. I whip out facets of myself that are good for the task at hand, mood also being a factor... it's all me though.

This is from my prospective though, you may be a completely different sort of "unreadable" :P


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Balbituate
Sea Gull
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03 Dec 2017, 1:15 am

Introverticalibrated wrote:
I've run into similar problems myself... I believe a lot of people like to draw seemingly shy/stiff people out of their "shell" so they can properly evaluate the type of person you are. When that doesn't seem to happen they come to their own conclusions; which are usually awful since from their perspective they propped up their end of the bonding protocol and you may have not.

I remember 3+ years ago, washing my hands in the restroom where I worked and a co-worker was using the urinal behind me... He pretty boldly asked "Is anyone in there?" I just said "Nope" dried my hands and walked out. Later on he would sing Ace of Spades but replace Spades with Jades (my name is Jade) and that always puzzled me.

95% of my interactions go to crud due to my inability to remain consistent or outgoing, the more I try to conform the more I look like someone way off the deep end with numerous personalities. I whip out facets of myself that are good for the task at hand, mood also being a factor... it's all me though.

This is from my prospective though, you may be a completely different sort of "unreadable" :P

A lot of the time I approach life in a troll* sort of way. If I can't fit in I'll just start trolling and kind of mocking everyone. So I often confuse people on purpose. People kind of think it's cute that I act like that at first. But they get disappointed in me when they try to get to know the person behind the troll and I end up trolling them when they try s**t with me. Trolling for me is how I cope. I also like my privacy. In a way trolling gives me more privacy. Not everyone can expect or respect this.

* I realize not everyone has the same definition for the word trolling. Some people define it as harassment or bullying. That's not necessarily the way I use it. In my case it's left over from my class clown days. I used to joke around in class to get people to laugh. Since everything is a joke, I can't really say the wrong thing. It's also a privacy thing like I said before. An example would be with music taste. If I encounter a guy who I know will be a huge music snob I might troll him by saying my favorite band is Aqua and I find classic rock boring. I do enjoy Aqua once in a while, but I know I listen to more snob approved music. I just say Aqua because I know he'll react and I won't feel as personally attacked. I also like to just say outrageous things that are sometimes fake, but sometimes true.



Spiderpig
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15 Apr 2018, 11:25 pm

People need to know whom to hate. If they can't read you, they'll hate you just in case, to err on the safe side.


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IstominFan
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16 Apr 2018, 8:55 am

I think I'm pretty easy to read. People know of my fondness for cats and my interest in tennis.



MalchikBrodyaga
Deinonychus
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28 Apr 2018, 1:08 pm

Yeah, to me being undreadable is super-frustrating. Particularly since people assume I want to be left alone when I am actually desperate for social interaction. Or worse: if I dress poorly they confuse me with homeless (actually I am a Math Ph.D. student, but they think that the bag full of books that I carry is whatever bags homeless people have). I guess I can avoid this by spending my time in my office, where they know who I am, but then I am back with the first issue of them not socializing with me because they think I want to be left alone.



starrybird
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01 May 2018, 12:05 am

When I was in middle school, I was seriously socially inept. Some people would tell me they didn't want to be friends with me because they couldn't read me. It was so confusing. I can't read them. Why should they be able to read me? I don't want to be read. That's a violation of my privacy.